THE Gingerbread House

I'm all about creating holiday traditions. Katie loves doing holiday activities. So, I saw an adorable kit for a gingerbread house at Target, and I thought, "How hard could this be?" Boy, was I wrong. It took almost 30 minutes just to get the stupid rock-hard cookies to stick together. Katie kept asking when she could add the candy. We started letting her decorate. The house quickly deteriorated like a mobile home purchased with FEMA funds. I will post a picture of what it looked like about 2 minutes before the whole thing collapsed. Katie did enjoy eating the candy as she assembled it. I know that's the important part, but Dave does not desire to make one of these again...for a long time.
P.S. Our model did not turn out like the picture on the box.

Thanksgiving Feast

Katie's school has a feast every year on the Monday before Thanksgiving. I don't know how you call it a "Thanksgiving feast" when you serve: Chick-fil-A nuggets, fries, fruit cocktail, green beans, rolls, and ice cream, but the kids love it all the same. Katie doesn't normally attend school on Mondays, but we make an exception for the feast. It starts out with a short program from the kiddos. They sang, "I'm a little turkey" to the tune of "I'm a little teapot." It went like this and was adorable, "I'm a little turkey, short and fat"...then there was a lot of mumbling, and it ended with "Gobble, gobble, gobble." Katie sang this song for a good month, and now I can't remember it.

Allie's Birthday

Allie's 4th birthday party was at the carousel at the Parks mall. Katie loves the carousel. Actually, she just loves parties period. Allie had a beautiful cake of Cinderella made by Becky, and Katie was shocked. Allie got lots of good loot, and I think everyone had a good time.

Happy Halloween

We headed to Jaxson's house for a costume party! Katie had been asking all day what Jaxson would be dressed up as. All the party participants were dressed up except Dave and I. I didn't know everyone would take it so seriously. Next year, I will dress up, I promise. Katie had a great time playing with Jaxson (Bumblebee) and Blake (Tony Romo.) She was quite the fairy. If someone ever called her a princess, she would quickly let you know, "I'm not a princess, I'm a fairy."

Potty training

So, after our trip to the State Fair, I started potty training with a vengeance. I discovered Katie was playing us all. She could stay dry all day at school, but she would never go at home. I spoke with some friends at school. Katie is fascinated with art. I knew I had her when I told her she could change the color of the water in the potty. I bought food coloring and got to work. Katie was practically potty trained in 4 days. We have an occasional accident here or there, but nothing like we used to. She now wears panties all the time and is very aware of her capabilities. When she has an accident, I think it's because she finds it inconvenient to stop what she's doing to go to the bathroom. I know this because she never has accidents at school, daycare, or out in public...only at home. Oh well, I'm glad this chapter of our life is closed. This was the hardest thing I ever had to conquer.

State Fair

We headed to the State Fair on the last day it was here.

Katie loved seeing the animals and feeding them.

Dave and I headed to the Auto Show in hopes of finding my next vehicle. Plus, there's always the fried food, who could resist? After eating corny dogs and nachos and seeing everything there was to see, we headed home.

Swine Flu

Swine Flu has taken over the Martin household. Saturday morning, I started to feel a little puny. Maybe like I was having a bad day with allergies. By mid-day I was convinced I needed a little Advil Cold and Sinus. We went to the Horton's for football and had a good time, but I never felt myself. Sunday I had a horrible head cold, but no other real symptoms. Late Sunday, I had a low-grade fever. I was sure I could beat it by morning and head into work. When my alarm woke me on Monday, I just wanted to check my temp to make sure I was good. My 99.5 had risen to 101.2 so going to work wasn't an option. I did on-line check-in at CareNow. Within 2 hours, I got seen by a doctor and tested for flu. Sure enough it came back positive. They said it was the Swine Flu since it wasn't the seasonal flu time yet. I spent most of the day sleeping and lying around. I woke up at 3:30 when school called to see if I could return. I told them I was still running a fever, and I couldn't. Right after I hung up the phone, mom called saying Katie was running 101.1. I called Dr. Harmon and they got her scheduled for 5:30. By 7 PM, they had tested her for flu, Swine Flu, and Strep. She tested positive for Swine Flu. Dave and Katie didn't get home until 8 PM. We had brats and hot dogs for dinner. I got Katie ready for bed (after her meds). Next morning, Dave woke up with a fever. He went to CareNow and tested negative for the flu. He had bronchitis. Now, he'll stay home tomorrow with Katie and I can go back to work...which is good. After a while of lying around the house, I start to get bored.