Reading Glasses

I got this health insurance several years ago and it was supposed to come with one free eye exam per year. I have never needed to use them. I had to do an eye exam when I was really little; probably like second grade but my eyes were good enough that I didn't need glasses. Lately I started to get a lot of headaches and I noticed that they seemed to be worse if I spent a lot of time reading, especially if I would read on my ipad; so I finally set up an eye exam. 

It took a long time to find someone that would take my insurance but I eventually got everything taken care of. My sister Alesha came to watch the girls and I headed off. This was the first time I can actually remember having my eyes checked. Right away I noticed that there was a big difference in the way my left and right eye could see. My left eye can see perfect while my right eye is a little off. The doctor went ahead and prescribed me some reading glasses that I am supposed to use whenever I read or use the computer. 

I didn't actually pick up my glasses until a few weeks later and I am still not used to wearing them. I find myself forgetting to put them on all the time. It helps when I wear them I just need to get in the habit of doing it. 

Now Brynlee really thinks she needs glasses too. She also took my glasses cleaner cloth and used it on her baby doll and got it all dirty. She also took off with my case so I couldn't find it for a while. I eventually found it in one of her purses. Annalyn likes my glasses too. Sometimes when I put them on she cries until I let her wear them. I wont let her run off with them so that always makes her mad. I just hope they don't get lost or broken because they were not cheap.   

All About Me

I recently celebrated my 28th birthday. Joel bought me an ice cream cake and a few presents. I got a new blender and some pillows. My sister Heather went out to lunch with me and then she came over with her family and my mom and Josh for cake that evening. It was a fun and simple celebration.

Since I wrote 25 random facts about Joel when it was his birthday, I am going to attempt to write 25 random facts about me.

1. My dad was in the Army when I was growing up and we moved every 2-3 years. 
2. I have still never lived anywhere for longer than 3 years. I hope that Joel and I can change that trend someday because I hate moving. 
3. I have lived in Texas, Kansas, Alabama, Georgia, Germany, Idaho, and Utah. 
4. I got bit by a dog on my upper lip when I was three and I had to get 7 stitches. I still have a scar there. 
5. When I was a baby I superglued my mouth together. That was the first time my parents had to rush me to the doctor.
6. I got my ears pierced when I was five but they would get infected all the time. For several years I would never wear earrings. Now I wear them all the time. I just can't wear the cheap stuff or they will get infected. 
7. I graduated from Leavenworth High School in Leavenworth, Kansas.
8. I graduated from BYU with a degree in Elementary Education with an Emphasis in early education. 
9. During the summers between semesters at school during college I worked at a daycare. I have always liked working with kids. 
10. During my last year of college I got really sick and I had to spent three days and nights in the hospital with meningitis. 
11. I taught first grade for one year and I loved teaching. Some day I would really like to start up a preschool.
12. A few months ago I went to the eye doctor and got my first pair of prescription glasses. They are for reading and using the computer.
13. I like to read books. The last book I read was The Originals by Cat Patrick..
14. I also really enjoy reading books aloud. That was one of my favorite things about teaching. I love reading to my kids now. 
15. I hate doing laundry. 
16. I am not very organized. My house is constantly cluttered. 
17. I am not a perfectionist. I am good with things getting done and just being decent. 
18. I am not into fashion and getting dressed up at all. I never liked wearing dresses so I have no idea where Brynlee gets her fashion sense from. 
19. I don't like spending money on things. 
20. I hate shopping. Unless I am buying something for my kids. I like shopping for them.
21. I refuse to make a shopping trip if I only need one thing. I will make something else work, or just go without. 
22. I like to eat sweets and make them last as long as possible. Joel doesn't let me save stuff around here because if he finds it, he eats it. Half of the time when I go to get a bite of ice cream, the carton is gone.
23. I love looking at pictures of people. Some day I want to take a photography class so I can become a good photographer. 
24. I used to love scrap booking and I did all of my mom's scrapbooks for her when I was growing up. Lately I have been doing photo books on the computer which I really like and they are much less time consuming. 
25. I love being a stay at home mom. I just really like to play with my kids. 

October

October was a busy month full of playing with friends, playing with family, and celebrating Halloween. We played in the leaves and spent lots of time outside when the weather was nice. Two more of our chickens got eaten by an owl one night when we forgot to tuck them in so then we were down to only four chickens. On Halloween night the white chicken returned and it seems like she is back to stay.

We celebrated Joel's birthday this month and the girls both helped me make the cake. While we were making the frosting I lifted up the mixer on my kitchen aid and Brynlee turned it on for us. Frosting went flying everywhere. Annalyn ran to me in terror and grabbed my leg, and Brynlee started crying about her "beautiful Tinkerbell dress" getting all ruined. I think I got the most frosting on me and Brynlee ran out of the room crying so I had to rush over and turn the mixer off for her. She had her clothes changed as quick as possible but when she came out she still had frosting all over her face. 

Brynlee loves dressing up so this whole Halloween thing was right up her alley. She pretty much wore a costume all month. She got these cool "monster teeth" from the zoo that she loves. Her and Annalyn both had a lot of fun rearranging and playing with all of the Halloween decorations. We had this Frankenstein poster that she called "Mr. Frankle" because she couldn't remember his name. Instead of baby dolls she had baby ghost and pumpkin children. I love that girl.

Annalyn has grown so much lately. She used to be so little for her age but all of a sudden she has caught right up to the other kids her age. Her hair has gotten really long too and she likes it when I give her pigtails like Brynlee gets. She has been really clingy lately. Every time I try to leave the room, or even if I just stand up from the table or move away from her, she freaks out and runs and desperately cries for me. It is so weird because she goes to nursery just fine and she will let other people watch her. I seriously love her though. She is so fun.

Halloween Fun

This year for Halloween Brynlee was convinced that she wanted to be Tinkerbell. At first she wanted to be Cinderella since that is what she was last year but then she changed her mind. I told her she could be whatever she wanted but that I wasn't going to buy her a new costume. We don't really have a Tinkerbell outfit and I didn't want to buy anything when Brynlee already has so much dress-up clothes. Brynlee was invited to a Halloween party and in the end she settled on being a Fairy. She wore her blue Periwinkle fairy dress.

Then we went to "Boo at the Zoo" which was just a trip to the zoo where they handed out candy. Brynlee tried on several different costumes before she decided to be a cowgirl. Annalyn was a little cheerleader. The costume she wore was a little small for her but she looked cute. The zoo was super crowed when we went. We almost couldn't even find a place to park. It is probably a good thing Joel didn't come because he would not have enjoyed it. My mom and my grandma came with my cousin Ryder and we all enjoyed ourselves. Brynlee and Ryder even got to feed a giraffe. When we got home I told Brynlee to tell her dad what we got to feed and she excited exclaimed, "we fed, a Goat!" Yeah, we did feed a goat, but what else, "oh, a giraffe."

Ryder really wanted to see the bats. He has been obsessed with bats lately so that was his favorite part and Brynlee's favorite part as well. Annalyn loved every single animal she saw and she had all of her candy eaten before we even got home. Since she had candy she was content to sit in the stroller for most of the day and she was great. She loves animals. She also loved sitting on the camel and going down the slide. It was a fun day but the zoo was really way to crowded to fully enjoy.

On Halloween day the girls both wore their Halloween clothes. As I was getting ready; Annalyn came in the bathroom and I shooed her out. Then I started looking for my mascara that had been sitting on the counter. All of a sudden I had this feeling and I ran out of the bathroom to discover miss Annalyn covering her eye with mascara. She ran when I saw her. That stuff was really hard to get off too. I scrubbed for a long time and eventually just called it good enough and we left out the door for our music time at the library.

After library we had planned on going to Jabbers with my sister Heather. Then Joel told me he would get part of the day off. He wanted to stay home and do some things around the house (really the only thing he did was to watch a movie but he said he was going to work) so I left Annalyn at home to take a nap and Brynlee and I got to have some time alone. We had a great time together. I could tell she missed Annalyn because she brought her home some candy and she even made her something. Brynlee wore her Fancy Nancy costume and she even got some balloon butterfly wings to go with it.

When we got home from our day out, Joel got a call from work saying that my parent's house didn't pass the final inspection. My parents were supposed to move in the next Saturday so it had to pass by the next morning. This only gave them that night to finish everything that needed to be fixed. Joel and my dad ran over there and they ended up working until 9 that night. Poor Joel missed all of the Halloween festivities. Luckily my mom came with me and we went trick or treating in my sister Heather's neighborhood.

Brynlee changed her costume and decided to be Cinderella when we went Trick of Treating. I dressed Annalyn as the dog Magenta from Blue's clues. The dog hat only lasted for a little while so I don't think anyone could tell what she was. It was so funny watching Brynlee trick or treat because she had to touch every single decoration in everyone's yard. She would march right up to the doors and then nicely knock on the door. If no one answered the door right away she would bang really loud. She had a great time. Annalyn said thank you at every house and she had a great time too. No one else could touch her candy. She ate candy the whole night and she would eat it with the wrapper still on. We brought our little wagon with us and she just lounged back in there with some candy in her mouth and a bucket of candy in her hand. She was in heaven. I wish Joel could have came with us but we still had fun and got lots of candy.