If Rick can update...

A few fun things have happened this week. Wednesday was D's first (and apparently last for the year) PTC. At the conference D's teacher went thought the benchmarks they would like him to reach. He is only one or two below the goals for the year in EVERYTHING. I feel funny sometimes when I talk about D because he is smart--really smart-- and I don't want people to feel like I'm just another one of those parents who thinks her kid is better than everyone else's. I know there are kids smarter and I know there are other things to be good at. For D, he loves to learn. LOVES IT. He basically taught himself to read at age 4. He knew his letters and sounds long before age 3. He can count higher than I want to listen to. This is why we opted to put him into an integrated Spanish and English class. He is loving the chance to learn another language and he has something in Kindergarten he doesn't know how to do.

Friday we had our ward Trunk or Treat/Chili Cookoff. We all had a super time. We have a lot of friends in our ward now. It is nice to know people and our ward is pretty great, I think. The kids dressed up in their costume. SO CUTE. I didn't have my camera (DOH!) but other people took pictures for me and will hopefully be emailing them soon. D was a ghost. I made his costume. Even I can make a ghost! K wore the same ladybug costume she wore last year. I found an adorable chicken suit for A at the consignment shop. She is just too precious as a chicken!

Today was our ward's primary program. It is the 3rd attempt for D. (Attempt 1 is chronicled here, second attempt was more like a non-attempt.) He started the meeting on the stand with his class. He sang all the songs. He even got up and read his part into the microphone. It did take him nearly 2 looooonnng minutes to inaudibly mumble 5 lines of speech but he did it!! I'm so proud and glad he did. K is totally ready to participate next year. She would have been up there this year if I would have let her. She is so outgoing and daring.

It's like the quiet before the storm.

We have really had quite a lull around here lately. We have settled into a bit of a routine. Nothing extra has been happening. D is adjusted to school nicely. K has adjusted to having D in school. A is so easy going -- allbeit busy. In fact, A has started opening the doors around here. Mostly accidentally but still happening. This is bad news. It is a beautiful thing when you can keep a child in or out simply by shutting the door. I can't even lock K in or out anymore.
The cat got her collar back. A neighbor down the street who knows Zibby returned it to us the other day. Such a relief! I really didn't want to deal with replacing the tags.I've been alternating between crafty decorating and lazy do-nothingness. I plan to post some pictures of what I've been working on but here's a teaser:

Place Mat Throw Pillows!

And, just because there should be a child in this post, here's one of little naughty's favorite new pasttimes. Shoes on the shoerack are an abomination. AN ABOMINATION! That's what she believes anyway.

Here a little, there a little

The other night K had a nightmare. She usually cries a bit and goes back to sleep in her own bed after a comforting snuggle with me. Not this time. It was 3:30 am and I don't think she really slept for the rest on the night. She did, however, lay in her bed, my rocking chair, my floor, my bed, the couch.....I think that's it. Near sunrise, she was laying in bed between Roy and I will the sheet pulled over her head being hysterical about things getting her. What were these things, you ask? Well, I asked too. Her response: "The Rascals! The rascals are getting me!" ???
The night ended with sunrise and a soothing discussion about our attack cat Zibby chasing away anymore rascals before they can get in the house. Thank goodness for attack cats.

This weekend was General Conference. I love it. We still don't have cable or satellite or anything of that nature, but we do have the Internet! We hooked up the computer to be where our TV is so we could sit on the couch. D went through 2 General Conference packets. One for each day.
Saturday, after Priesthood Session, Roy came home and picked up D. They went to the Bishop's house for ice cream. So fun.

Speaking of TV..... ours is broken. The remote has not worked for a while now. We don't believe the cause to be the remote (and YES we checked the batteries!). This has only caused mild problems since we have to have the digital converter box to watch TV and it has it's own remote to change channels. It was getting old for the volume though. Anyway, now the poor thing won't turn on. We've been babying along for a while. There have been times when the TV didn't want to turn on but if we waited for a while and tried again it would do it. Not so much now. It's been 2 whole days since it was last turned on. It isn't looking good.

A talks all.the.time. now. She doesn't actually use much recognizable language, but she does talk. Alot. Especially when she is mad. When she gets upset, she reminds me a bit of a squirrel. She just starts chittering away angrily. I love it! I love her! Oh, and she has taken to falling off the chairs around the table. I think it is her revenge for not being able to get on the table. She also fell down our large flight of stairs yesterday. She has decided that going down on her stomach is beneath her now that she is walking. She should walk down the stairs. It's not going well.

Zibby came home without her collar today. Swell.

I am going to Time Out for Women in November. I decided to get a group of ticket sales together so we could get the discount. I needed 3. I got 9. Overachiever??