We spent a long day Friday looking at model homes. We recently bought some lots that we're going to build on, so we wanted to find a layout that would suit our family for the rest of our time in Kingman - it could be a very long time! Here's Jeremiah & I at the end of the day on some couch in one of the homes. In typical Jeremiah fashion, he wouldn't smile - just stare or make gay faces.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
feliz cumpleaños a mí
We spent a long day Friday looking at model homes. We recently bought some lots that we're going to build on, so we wanted to find a layout that would suit our family for the rest of our time in Kingman - it could be a very long time! Here's Jeremiah & I at the end of the day on some couch in one of the homes. In typical Jeremiah fashion, he wouldn't smile - just stare or make gay faces.
Friday, January 19, 2007
Snow Day
It snowed in Kingman last week! Even though it was definitely naptime I wanted Callie & Jack to be able to play in the snow since snowfall in Kingman is a nearly annual occurrance! Jack got over his tired grumpiness long enough to spend some time outside. He was fascinated! I showed Callie how to catch snowflakes on her tongue, which she thoroughly enjoyed trying!
Jeremiah was pretty excited about the snow since that meant that hunting the next morning would probably be better. Unfortunately for him the snow didn't improve hunting conditions. A funny aside - he's been bow hunting in the same spot for several weeks now and about a month ago he finally saw a buck in his spot so even though it was nearly out of range he let an arrow fly. He missed the buck but came home with raised spirits because at least he'd seen something (he's spent many hours sitting in the cold & never seeing anything)! A few days after missing the buck he was talking to a friend about it & saying how odd it was that he hadn't seen anybody else in that area. His friend informed him it was because that area was closed! Turns out it was the ONLY area not yet opened in the state! Slight oversight on his part! So now I feel that it was divine intervention that stopped him from getting the buck that day! I probably would have been visiting my husband in jail not to mention that he'd lose his hunting license for life for poaching! So now that the area's open, we're crossing our fingers that he'll see another buck in the next couple of weekends before the season closes.
One more thing. We've been doing our reading program for just about a week now & already we know that it's working! At least for Callie - Jack doesn't seem that interested. But then again, children his age learn much faster than children Callie's age so maybe he is picking the stuff up. Anyway, Jeremiah wrote down "mama," "daddy" and "Callie" the other day & she read what he'd written. I was a little annoyed with him when he'd told me because you're absolutely not supposed to test in the beginning, and when you do finally test you never just show a word & ask them to tell you what it says. Then last night after I'd told him how excited I was that Callie had grabbed one of the words from the set that I hadn't yet put away and said that it was "dolly," he said he wasn't surprised because he'd tested her again! Agh! He promised he won't do it again. Anyway, despite my annoyance with his sneaky testing, I'm pretty stoked to know that our efforts are thus far fruitful! Woohoo!
Friday, January 12, 2007
Stupid Blogger
Anyway. The little Divis clan is doing well. I'm trying to lose weight (isn't everybody this time of year) so I've signed up for an account on MyFoodDiary.com. It's pretty much a luxury calorie tracker but I think it's pretty cool. I've never in my life worried about counting calories, but I'm giving this a try since it's cheaper than Weight Watchers and basically the same thing when you really break it down. It's definitely helping me eat smarter. Like last night even though I had more than 450 calories to go I opted not to bake chocolate chip cookies (we keep frozen balls in the freezer that are warm & delicious in 12 minutes!). I decided at the beginning that I'd only have dessert twice a week (I'm a dessert freak!) & I wanted to save myself for the weekend! So my change of diet is one big thing for me right now.
Also I started a reading program yesterday with Callie & Jackson. My bro/sis-in-law Justin & Jamie told us about a reading program (among others) developed by The Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential. I was a little skeptical at first, but reading the information, then checking out the book at the library has convinced me that it's totally possible to teach your baby to read as well as many other things (if you're curious there's a video clip on the Institute's website [early learning programs\view us on fox tv]). So we're now going to be working on their reading program daily & eventually adding other areas. And if you're wondering why I want to teach my children to read, the point of the program is that your children are learning how to learn and to enjoy learning. What really got me interested in the program was hearing about the Institutes math program. It teaches to think in quantities instead of numerals, and since I struggled so much with math in HS, I thought if I could help my children in any way it would be a small thing on my part & such a huge advantage for them! Anyway, maybe in a few months I'll be able to report that I've lost the weight I want to & that my children can read some words.
We did it!
Christmas Stuff

Friday, December 15, 2006
Santa Claus is Comin' to Town

So this year I was totally on it - at first. The tree's up & stockings are hung, but that's about it. Last year I went all out, but now that Christmas is in a week & a half, I don't even care. I am proud about the tree though. Many times in past years I've wanted to put up the tree the weekend after Thanksgiving or even the first weekend in December, but it ends up being halfway through December. So this year I got the tree out on Sunday after Thanksgiving. Of course it did me no good since our crappy pre-lit tree was not lighting! After about 1/2 an hour of checking bulbs I said forget it & decided to wait till after my walk the next morning to run into WalMart & grab some new lights. I don't know if all pre-lits are so crappy, but we've had problems with ours for the past 3 years! In the past though I've been able to find the problem bulb before a 1/2 hour was up! In the tree's defence, it was only like $60 the day after Thanksgiving 5 years ago, so maybe cheap tree = stupid lights. Anyway, Callie was going nuts Monday afternoon waiting for me to finish putting on the lights & garland & ribbon so that we could get down to business. She was a very good little decorator! At first I just had her hand me decorations. Soon she was telling me where to put them. And before long she was going to the tree to do it herself. I didn't have to rehang much of what she put on - she must have her mom's flair! :) She did at one point talk about how Grandma Darcy had made our tree (not true of course). I told her Grandma Darcy was really crafty. She said, "Yeah, Grandma Darcy's crafty. I crafty too mom." Yes she is! She's certainly not lacking confidence! The other night I said to Jack, "You're so stinkin' cute!" Callie immediately followed up with, "Yeah, I so stinkin' cute too!"

We went to our ward Christmas Party 2 weekends ago & Callie was SO excited to see Santa! Our Santa was comical. The guy who was going to wear the suit (an older man who would have been great) went to put it on & the pants wouldn't fit over his thighs, so the next several minutes were spent stalling the children & looking for someone to fit the suit. But none of the kids knew the difference. Callie had been talking all day about seeing Santa and was just so excited! Santa gave all the kids candy canes so now Callie mentions daily that she wants to see Santa & get a candy cane. We've told her about the naughty & nice thing but until very recently hadn't been using it against her! So before we even started blackmailing her with it, she was in time out one day & crying out, "I nice! I nice! I not naughty!" I love it! I think we'll be able to use the naughty & nice thing for a while past Christmas since she's still talking about trick-or-treating! Jack was very hesitant about Santa, but in the end was accepting of the Jolly Old Elf. I think he's not quite old enough to be terrified like Callie was last year, and hopefully next year he'll think he's great like Callie does this year!

So now I'm working on finishing presents, and getting everything in order so we can have a fun, stress-free last few days before Christmas. I really wanted to take Callie to the Grand Canyon Railway so that we could ride The Polar Express, but when I called in November to get tickets for this month I sadly learned that you have to buy your tickets a year in advance! That's insane! They did have 3 dates in January still available, but who wants to see Santa in January?! I called a few days ago to book our tickets for next year & my first choice was also already booked! For next year! But anyway, for anyone who wants to ride The Polar Express with us next year, call & get your tix now! We're going Friday, December 14th at 6:30pm. I can't wait! It's too bad though! Before I knew that we wouldn't be able to go this year I'd told Callie all about it so she's constantly saying she wants to ride the train & see Santa.
Well the kids are both up now & crying to be fed so I'd better go. But Callie would like to add one last thing:
edrfasdfghjkl';;p'
:)
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Tylenol Junkies
And Jack is headed down the same twisted path. He's seriously happy when he sees the dropperful of grape Tylenol & most always gladly opens his mouth for the treat!
Even Jeremiah said last night after running out of Tylenol with Cool Burst that I needed to buy some more since it's a lot better than the Nyquil or whatever he'd been taking.
Is Tylenol a publicly traded company? We need to put our money where our addiction is!
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
LCD, HDTV, HDMI, DVI, DVR - I Love Technology!
So this was the first year since I met Jeremiah that we (or I) didn't get up in the wee hours of the morning to do Day-After-Thanksgiving shopping! I was really a little bummed about it! We'd planned on staying the night in Henderson at Tara's on Thanksgiving so we could hit Best Buy, JC Penney, & a couple others, but Jeremiah hurt his back playing football Thanksgiving morning so he wasn't about to stand in line for hours at Best Buy for a new LCD tv & a laptop (we figure we'd have needed to be in line before midnight). So after much deliberation we decided that we really didn't need anything from WalMart or Home Depot (about all our town has to offer) and I stayed in bed. I really LOVE getting up to do the shopping though. It's SO exciting to be right there in the middle of the madness. It's always been a fun thing so far because we haven't needed to buy the season's hottest toy so we've been able to laugh at the crazed looks on these moms' & dads' faces as they push through the crowds to get THE toy for their child.
I do have to admit that we ended up getting an LCD anyway! My dad, king of amazing deals, actually got WalMart to ad-match their 32" LCD with Home Depot's! WalMart's was almost $100 more than Home Depot's (and Best Buy's), but it was a much better tv than Home Depot's. Crazy thing is, WalMart's ad had printed on it that they would NOT ad-match the tv unless it was the EXACT same model, which if you've gone appliance shopping anywhere you know that they all have slightly different model #'s for that very reason! My dad should be a negotiator- he is SO good at getting people to bend and give him what he wants!
So now the only problem with our new LCD is that our cable company doesn't have HD broadcast in our city & doesn't know when they will. We looked into Dish Network, but because I HATE their on-screen channel guide so much (and a few other reasons), we've decided to wait it out with our cable company. There's only a handful of channels anyway that are broadcast in HD so whatever. The lady at our cable company said that sometime in 2008 (and I guess the holdup is the government) ALL channels will be broadcast in HD. Fact or fiction, I don't know, but how sick will that be if it is true?!
Friday, November 17, 2006
Conversation with Callie
"You pooped in your panties?"
"Yeah."
"Why did you do that?"
"Because! I pooped!"
"That makes mama sad."
Callie gets behind kitchen curtain & says "ROAR!"
"Mom, I scare you."
"No, I'm not scared. I'm frowing."
"You sad mom?"
"Yeah. I'm sad that you pooped your panties."
"Mom, cry!"
"Cry?"
"Yeah! You sad - cry!"
"I'm sad but I'm not going to cry."
"Yes! Do it!"
Thursday, November 16, 2006
A weed is no more than a flower in disguise.

When Callie brought this little handful of weeds in I was about to tell her to get them back outside because they'd make a mess. Thankfully before I could say anything she sweetly held out her little bouquet to me & said, "Here mom, I got you flowers." Talk about melt your heart! This is the first time Callie's brought me flowers. I love that girl! We put the "flowers" in her new little tea set vase.
Monday, November 13, 2006
Our California Adventure
On Thursday we went to Disneyland with Jeremiah's mom, sister Tabetha, & b-i-l Travis. Callie had talked about going to Disneyland and seeing Mickey Mouse on Thursday all week long! In fact on Thursday morning when she started asking about seeing Mickey Mouse we told her that we would get to see him that day & she said, "Hooray! Mickey Mouse!" for what was the first of many times that day! And sometimes she'd even add a "Hip, Hip," before the "Hooray!" She LOVED Disneyland! We'd gone in February but she didn't get it then. It's amazing what 9 months will do! She did not like Pirates - both she & Jack were very scared! But she really liked the rest of the rides we took her on. Especially Gadget's Go-Coaster! She sat with Grandma Divis who had an arm around her so Callie could only get one arm up to go down the coaster, but she kept that arm up the whole time along with a petrified look on her face! But when it was all over and we got off she got a big grin on her face & said it was fun & that she wanted to do it again! Jack was a very good little guy all day, as usual!



On Friday Jack & I got to do some shopping (Jack definitely didn't enjoy it as much as I did!), & Callie went with Jeremiah & his m&d to visit his brothers at work & to the beach.
Saturday was wedding day. The Newport Beach Temple is beautiful! I'm so excited that Jason & Richelle finally got married! I'm excited to have Richelle for a sister-in-law. She's awesome! We took so many pictures waiting for Jason & Richelle to make their big entrance out of the temple that I finally handed the camera to Jeremiah to carry & neither of us remembered to get it back out to take any pictures of the bride & groom! How lame are we?! :) So hopefully someone in our family will email us some good pictures. Jas & Richelle both looked so happy & great! Their reception that evening was amazing! Richelle did a really great job with the wedding!



Saturday, November 04, 2006

Callie helped Jeremiah with his. She was adorable! She kept rubbing his arm & patting his shoulder and saying, "Good job, daddy," or, "I like it," or, "Looks good!" I being the serious pumpkin carver & being in a Harry Potterish mood, carved an owl.
So the decision to have chickens for Halloween came about because I saw a similar chicken costume a few years ago in a magazine & wanted to someday make one because I loved it! I figured that next year Callie would have an opinion about what she wanted to be & since she'd surely never choose to be a chicken, this was the year to do it. Turns out I was wrong about her not having an opinion! At first she was really excited because she sings a chicken song that we see on Noggin so she's all about the chicken. But after going to Story Time at the Library and seeing one of her little friends dressed as Cinderella, she was so over the chicken! The morning of trunk-or-treat night:
Me: Callie, are you so excited to be a chicken & go trick-or-treating?
Callie: I want to wear a Cinderella dress.
Me: You do?
Callie: Yeah.
Me: But you're going to be a chicken.
Callie: No mommy, I don't want to be chicken. I want to wear a Cinderella dress!
Who knew that a 2-year old would have an opinion. The chicken of course stayed. We went to a Harry Potter themed Halloween party on Halloween (amazing job), and then we took Callie trick-or-treating for a half hour. Jeremiah wanted to go home after 2 houses but Callie was thoroughly enjoying herself. I told her to say that she wanted to go to the next house & that stuck. Jeremiah was ready to go home after every house & Callie said every time, "Next house, daddy," or "One more house, daddy." It was hilarious!
Now the only problem has been that big pumkin bucket with all the candy (which wasn't that much since we didn't go to many houses, but when you're 2 it's a ton!). We keep it on top of the fridge and Callie is constantly asking for pumpkin candy. I put all the candy in another bowl (that she doesn't know about) so the candy fairy comes every night and kindly deposits a couple little pieces of candy into her pumpkin bucket. She loves it! And her favorite of all the candies? Suckers! (And Jack likes them too!)


Monday, October 30, 2006
Halloween Chickens
To get more Halloween candy!
Here are our little chickens Saturday night all ready for trunk-or-treating at our ward party.




Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Sweet Callie-girl
What's sweeter than your 2-year old asking you to sing her "I Am a Child of God" as you put her to sleep?
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Chocolate Pudding & Ice Cream - Yum!
Jack is ONE!
So Jack had his first Birthday last week (17th)! I can't believe he's 1!

He had a huge slice of chocolate cake, just like Callie did on her first Birthday. Although Callie didn't get up in the middle of the night for 2 hours because of a stomach ache like Jack did! Not fun! Poor little guy! Poor us! We celebrated his birthday on Sunday since Tara had come for the weekend, so on his actual Birthday, I only fed him the smallest amount of cake! It wasn't that good anyway.

Here are some other recent pics of the kids for your viewing enjoyment!


Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Utah Visit

Callie & Aunt Kayleigh
Thursday, September 21, 2006
This morning
We went on a walk this morning to
Grandma Darcy's house since I apparently forgot to set my alarm before I went to bed last night, and slept through my 6:30 walk with the Debs. Callie loves going to "Gamma Darcy's" to jump on the "trampa-bean." Jack sat on a rock & ate bark mulch. It was a good morning! :)
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
The Niños
Jack is being so stinking cute lately! When we say it's time to say a prayer to bless our food or for family prayer or whatever he folds his arms & does a good job at it too! It's aDOREable! He started clapping his hands a week & a half ago too! He's waving when we say bye or hi. He's tried to mimic some of the things we've said (not that his mimicing sounds a THING like what's been said - I can just tell my the inflections in his voice). He's much more laid back & chill than Callie. He enjoys playing with a toy, whereas Callie can't hardly go from one thing to the next fast enough. We got this little Giraffe when Callie was a baby that you drop blocks into & it makes a sound. Callie still couldn't (or wouldn't) sit down & put the blocks in that thing when she was a year. But Jack's been able to do it for a while now.
This picture is a few days old, but Callie came to the gate (to the office) this morning with lipstick all over 1 cheek & said, "Mom, I pretty. Look Mom, I so pretty. I shopping." She was carrying a Target bag on her arm. When I went into the kitchen to investigate, I discovered a 20- a 1-dollar bill that she'd put in the trash, more cash on the floor, lipstick & lipgloss scattered, & lipgloss smeared onto one of my new red dishtowels that I waited seriously months to buy - from Target - which it's not like I can just go to Target this afternoon & replace! At least the dish towel isn't as expensive or IMPOSSIBLE to replace as the undershirt she ruined a few weeks ago! Jeremiah & I were in the kids' room playing with them & both fell asleep on their floor. I woke up after a few minutes to what I thought was Jack crawling on me. But no - it was Callie wiping her lip-glossy greasy little fingers all over my shirt & undershirt. It would have been a hilarious story had it not ruined my favorite brown undershirt/cami that I probably wear 2+ times a week! It was long, it was a great cotton blend, it was an awesome color, & it stayed down (instead of constantly riding up like its replacement), and it can't be replaced! I'm still not over it!