Cara's Corner

Monday, July 31, 2006

This is my family.....

Bobby, Jon, Conner, Emma, & Kitty also occupy this home. We all try to fit comfortably around Kitty. This is easier said than done as she quite large and robust. Conner is 3 1/2, Emma is turning one in a couple of weeks and Jon is 12 going on 19. He is my sister, Jennifer's, son and we are enjoying his company here. Bobby is 27, and allready has a grey patch. He is actually finding more gray hairs all of the time. Better gray than bald. I should know, I feel bald sometimes when I pull my hair back to reveal my rather large forehead, or "fivehead" as my sister kim calls it. I wonder if my kids are going to be blessed with my large frontal lobes.....I have been told that they give me pshycic abilities. I guess thats not true since I dont know if my kids are going to get it. I think thats called a cunundrum??
Anywho......Bobby is a software engineer at Control 4 and LOVES IT!! He talks about work all the time and I just know that he is thinking about it whenever we are talking about anything else. He is quite a strapping fellow (just look at our adorable kids). Lucky for him, it makes it easier to pay attention while he is talking about comput-o , electr-o mumbo jumbo. He is great daddy to our kids and loves teaching Jon about scouting and shot-put stuff. And he gives the best foot rubs. He loves to watch Funny Videos. That is actually the only TV he takes in, except for the couple minutes of Leno as he falls asleep.

Jon is busy with summer school and scouting. He just got back from a week long scout camp where he earned a few merrit badges and the award getting the most wet. Jon went to the Utah Summer Games un June and took the gold medal in Shot put after 3 whole weeks of training. You can imagine the pride He and Bob felt. He is planning on competing and winning again next year. He loves to play video games. He is always reaching for the higher level. Not only in games but in scouts, school, skateboarding, and life in general. He actually has a list of "when I'm 18, I'm gonna....." It contains things like...buy a bullet bike(thanks, Kim ;) ), get sponsored for skateboarding, get a variety of weopons, own fireworks(from Wyonming) and other things of this nature. He also made reference to joining the Service. Only time (and possibly my frontal lobes) will tell.

Conner is a riot. He is learning new stuff all of the time. He actually just made an imaginary friend named Crispy. Crispy gives him gifts and calls him on the phone all day long. Conner loves to tell Crispy what to do. Conner is so sweet with Emma. He loves to take a toy away and then when she starts crying, he quickly gives her another. It usually works out pretty good. He likes to cover his face then pop his hands off and shreik "dit-a-BOO!" It makes her laugh averytime. He still loves to play in the water. He "needs" to play in the sprinklers just about every day. A couple of weeks ago, during Family Home Evening, Conner did somthing funny. The lesson was about keeping the sabbath day holy. So we filled the kids' bowls up with chocolate ice cream and offered them toppings like, ketchup, peppers, bbq sauce, salt, etc. The idea was SUPPOSED to be that these things are good, just not on "Sundays". So while we were explaining this to jonny, Conner was topping his ice cream with bbq sauce. I about gagged as he ate it. It was pretty funny, but mostly gross.

Emma is walking just about everywhere now. She has started to climb on EVERYTHING! She gets into the fireplace, tries to climb up onto the countertops, into chairs, it's amazing. She has two bottom teeth all the way in, or out??, and two top ones on the way. She is such a beautiful girl. always smiling and laughing when she isn't throwing stuff and yelling at me. She cries so dramatically"MAMAMAMAMA". As soon as Bob is within earshot it's all smiles and a light hearted"DADADADADA". I don't expect that to change. I dont mind that she is in love with her daddy. I love that he is always here for her and the rest of the famliy. Emma loves her special 'aunt kim' blankie and never sleeps without it. It has been that way since she was born. In fact, as an infant the only way to get her to rest was usually by stripping her down to her diaper and wrapping her in her special balnkie. She is a princess to the core.

So that brings me to Kitty. What can I say?? Kitty eats and sleeps and takes up a lot of space. She only lets me, bob, and Dave pet her. She usually hides from anyone else. If someone else does try to pet her, they get a nasty look and then bitten. I think shes hoping for a snack. It's really fun to put lunch meat on her back and watch her try to get it. It's interesting to see if she will actually get it or just get tired of twitching her back and lay down to rest. We love her, and know that she would feed us for the winter if we ever needed her to.

Sunday, July 30, 2006

This is me......


I'm Cara and am new to blogs. I am looking forward to interacting with folks through this new medium. Let's see......I am a wife, mom, aunt, daughter, sister, cousin, & friend. I am known for being an avid bargain shopper. In fact this will probably be the topic of several posts. I LOVE to find good deals on EVERYTHING!! My family is the center of my life, the Gospel is my focus. I am an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints. I love the church. The teachings of the Church have kept my family strong and happy.

The best deal that I have found lately is a hardwood table & chairs set. Six chairs, large table, for 175.00. I got this at an estate sale to match a beautiful Ashley table I picked up on craigslist a few months ago. I need to finish the chairs to match the table...Never done this before so any advice would be helpful. The chairs are currently an oak color and the table is a dark, cherry/walnut finish.

I buy stuff because it's a good deal, whether I need it or not. This doesn't thrill my husband so I try not to go overboard. However, he knows I enjoy bargain shopping so he puts up with it selflessly. Am I the only one guilty of this?? Does anyone else go shopping and spend more time justifying your purchase than you do selecting the item(s) itself? Example - "I am saving way more money than I will pay in credit card interest" (which is usually untrue). Some times- sad to say- I donate items to the thrift store that still have the same thrift store tags on them :(

Anyone have any insights on bargain shopping? I found sweet flea market in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Here in Utah kids items are hot ticket. At this flea market they were the cheapest things. We actually came home with two more suitcases FULL of stuff than we came with.

My husband bought a new 2007 Honda shadow on wed. He really enjoys it. I'm still choking down the idea of the new debt. Although I must admit that driving up the canyon at dusk while holding on tight to my hubby is a great way to forget about any financial woes. Anyone know of any good deals on saddle bags or sissy bars? I am excited to learn to ride, but love being the passenger.

BTW- Is it better to have shorter or longer Blog entries? I hope that some people read this and enjoy it. I would be happy to talk about anything that interests me. (duh) :)

Have a good one & be patient with your kids.
-Cara