Errand Day

Yesterday was just one of those day where we needed to do some errands. We had to go to Costco, Wal-Mart, and Rosaur's for some odds and ends. J, B, Cara and I went while A stayed home to do some cleaning. Cara did such a great job behaving during all of our errands that when we went to Rosaur's we let her pick a cookie to eat after dinner. She picked an Elmo shortbread cookie.
Cara likes the idea of cookies, but mostly she just licks the frosting off of them.

Maybe she should have had her bath AFTER the cookie instead of before she ate the cookie.

No one eats cookies quite like Cara! :)

When the boys are away...

The girls go play! Well, we didn't actually plan to go shopping, but that's what happened. The boys went to Tacoma this weekend for the state wrestling tournament, but us girls decided to stay home. We didn't want to spend our weekend in the Tacoma Dome and didn't really have anything to shop for. Besides, A and Cara both have a runny nose and cough that they need to stay home and get rid of.

But I opened my email Friday night and it said there was going to be a box sale at Gymboree and that the store would open 2 hours early on Saturday morning for rewards members. AND there was an extra 20% off. A box sale only happens at a few stores. The company sends all of their clearance stock to select stores to get rid of it. You can usually find some pretty good deals. So I called my sister-in-law and we made a plan to go. The above picture is Cara all ready to go shopping.

As it turns out, the sale wasn't really all that great. I bought Cara a dress I had been eyeing in the fall but didn't want to buy at full price. It will be great for preschool in the fall (if she ever gets potty trained). I found a couple of long sleeved t-shirts, a pair of tulle capri leggings, and a "birthday girl" t-shirt, which I bought big to make it last for 2 years. Cara also got 3 sets of hair pretties and a pair of red polka dot sunglasses (to match the above outfit). That was it. I spent right at $50.oo, which is a lot of money, but I earned a $25 gymbuck that I'll be able to use in April. So everything was a decent deal. I don't think I "scored" on anything, but it was a fun little trip to Tri-Cities.

Do you know this little girl?

Cara is the taller girl in the picture. The shorter one is her friend. Cara calls her Jidun. This was her little friend at the Shanghai SWI. Cara misses her alot. I have emailed the orphanage and have gotten no reply. I would love any information on this little one if anyone happens to know anything. This photo is a picture I took of a page in Cara's photo book given to her by the SWI.

On Valentine's Day...

You get to eat a cookie for breakfast! :)

Cara thinks Valentine's Day is pretty fantastic. Last night Daddy made us a special dinner; his specialty: fried chicken baked in the oven, mashed potatoes, and chicken gravy. Cara also got to have a grape soda with dinner. For dessert there was chocolate cake. Before dinner Cara got her Valentine's Day present; a Little Tikes shopping cart and some food to go in it. After dinner she got a box of chocolates: Fran's milk chocolate with sea salt caramels.

Valentine's Day morning was pretty exciting, too. She got to wear her Valentine dress (it has pockets!) and eat a cookie for breakfast. She took treats to daycare and was pretty excited about that. When I got home from work, she met me at the door with a balloon in her hand screaming, "I got a balloon!" Apparently, Daddy sent a balloon and flowers to be delivered to daycare. When we got in the car to take A to dance, Cara sighed in her carseat and said, "I love Valentine, you get presents." Then, to top it off, Aunt D brought her ANOTHER balloon and a sucker. Cara had a great first Valentine's Day home. Not sure we'll ever be able to top this one! ;)

Crazy, Busy Week

This photo was taken last Sunday right before we went to Olympia. We took A over for her orientation. She spent this week serving as a Senate Page for Senator Jim Honeyford. She had fun, but was pretty homesick for the first 2 or 3 days. She's on her way home now. Grandma and Grandpa went over to pick her up today.

This week has been very hectic and busy. You don't realize how helpful a 16-year-old can be until they're gone. Monday I had Dr. appts, Tuesday was a PTO meeting, Wednesday was "Make A Valentine" night and B's wrestling match, Thursday was not too bad, and Friday was finally time to relax. All of this was mixed with work, daycare, and 2 a day wrestling practices. I'm exhausted and Cara has a cold. She also had some problems sleeping this week, which prevented J and me from sleeping. I think it was her cold coming on. Tonight we're spending time relaxing and giving Cara meds to keep the fever down.

Happy 4 month Gotcha versary, Cara!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Here's Cara all ready to go out to dinner at China Grove for Chinese New Year. Isn't she just delicious!?! I could just eat her up, she's so cute! This was her first day of 2 ponytails, too. Cara says, "I no like 2 ponies. 2 ponies hurt!" Looks like we won't be putting in 2 ponytails often.

She loves her Chinese dresses. She doesn't get to wear them very often here because it's too cold. She can wear them when it gets warmer.