Ellen

The other day I was cutting out material for Jacque's sunday dress and trying to play a game with Samuel at the same time. Ellen wanted someone to play BINGO with her, but everyone was busy, so she decided that she'd have her own fun. First off she took all the little coins that covered the BINGO squares and decided it would be a lot of fun to throw them around the room! She made a good mess. I didn't see or hear her for a bit, and was too busy to really think that I should maybe go check on her, but several minutes later she came up to me and gave me a glue stick. I looked at her, and this is what I found:

Isn't she cute! I took a picture and then got a wipe and washed it all off. As I was scrubbing her face, Ellen says (in a very serious voice), "I not do 'gin mom!" She was so cute and so good while I was scrubbing.

Another story:

Yesterday we had a ward 4th of July pancake breakfast. We walked across the street and ate breakfast, and I was a little surprised at what we ate. Usually when you have a ward dinner/lunch/breakfast, someone has spent a lot of money and time on food and decorations. They called this breakfast a pancake breakfast, and that's what it was. We walked in, they had tables set up and there was a pan of pancakes, one tub of butter to share among the tables, and two containers of syrup. I was surprised at first, but then I was grateful. I think too many times people try to do too much for Ward parties and they usually end up spending a lot of money. The food was great, we ate until we were full, and I think everyone had just as much fun talking to others and mingling without all the expense. I liked it.

While we were eating, our friends down at the end of the table asked when the house tour was. I told them as soon as they were done eating. We hurried and ate, and then got home and starting picking things up so the house was more inviting. Just a few minutes later our friends with their kids came. Then another friend, and another friend with her kids. I think by the end we had 13 kids (counting mine) and 7 adults. It was fun that they all felt comfortable to come over and we had fun talking. When it was time for one of the families to go, the mom said, "Come on kids" and started leaving. As they were walking to the car, her husband said, "Megan...you can't take that one." She looks down and she was walking off, holding Ellen's hand. She just assumed that anyone who would grab her hand would be her own kid, and Ellen heard her say, "Come on kids, let's go" and she was going!

I do really think that Ellen loves us, but after trying to go home with so many different people, maybe I should stop and think about this!

Officially closed!

We are officially closed now! Yeah!!

Our neighbor knocked on my door Thursday night and asked if he could mow my backyard/lot. It has been overrun by weeds and alfalfa, and he felt bad that we were left with such a mess. He has a riding lawnmower and thought he should volunteer for the job. I was so greatful for his offer. That was going to be one of our projects for Saturday. He ended up spending over two hours mowing. I watched for a few minutes, and then I went in and baked him, and us, a pie. I had enough time to bake the pie and have it cool enough to be handled by the time he was done. I think he is going to be a good neighbor. His youngest child is 10 and his name is Sam. Sam and Samuel have become really good friends, and its great to have Samuel have a boy to play with. He asks to invite Sam over so he can have some "boy time."

How well do the kids know their dad?

We didn't have Internet access over Father's Day, but the Primary had the kids fill out a cute questionaire about their dads, which showed how well they knew their dads. I thought it was really cute and wanted to share their answers.

1. Who is he named after?
Samuel: The Aaron in the Scriptures
Jacque: No one
Calista: James
Correct answer: The Kerns' named all their boys with Bible names and his middle name is
after his Grandpa Tom Kerns.

2. How many brothers and sisters does he have?
Samuel: 10
Jacque: ? some of both
Calista: a lot
Correct answer: 9 - 5 brothers, 4 sisters

3. What is his favorite cereal?
Samuel: I don't know
Jacque: Cheerios
Calista: Oatmeal
Correct answer: Oatmeal/granola or Raisin Bran if you want a "cold cereal"

4. Where was he born?
Samuel: I think in Haines
Jacque: Baker
Calista: In his mommy's tummy
Correct answer: Baker

5. How old was he when he got married?
Samuel: Probably around 20
Jacque: 20
Calista: 30
Correct answer: 22

6. What is his favorite flavor of ice cream?
Samuel: Vanilla
Jacque: Vanilla
Calista: Strawberry
Correct answer: Strawberry

7. What is his favorite food?
Samuel: He doesn't care
Jacque: Pizza
Calista: Strawberry Oatmeal
Correct answer: He probably doesn't care

8. What is his favorite movie?
Samuel: Apple Dumpling Gang #1 and #2
Jacque: Gunfire (meaning Support Your Local Sheriff)
Calista: The gunfighter (same as Jacque, we recently bought this movie)
Correct answer: Apple Dumpling Gang #2

9. What is his favorite song?
Samuel: He likes a lot
Jacque: I'm so glad when daddy comes home
Calista: I'm so glad when daddy comes home
(They must've been practicing this song for Father's Day )
Correct answer: He does like a lot

10. What color are his eyes?
Samuel: Blue and greenish
Jacque: Green
Calista: Blue
Correct answer: Blueish-greenish

11. What size of shoe does he wear?
Samuel: Around 19 or 20
Jacque: 12
Calista: Really big
Correct answer: 10

12. What is his favorite thing to do with me?
Samuel: Everything
Jacque: Play Alligator
Calista: Give me piggyback rides
Correct answer: Everything - Alligator, slugly ug, evil lion, goozling the gizzard

I'm back!!

Since we moved, I've been out of the loop. We had to figure out what we wanted to do for phone and Internet since Qwest wasn't available in Pilot Rock. I talked to people around town and they were all spending $60-$80 a month, which sounded expensive to me. I went to the phone company in town and they said that to have local and unlimited long distance, it would cost me $61 a month plus taxes. That sounded a little high so I looked at High Speed Internet. They had broadband Internet which would be $53 a month but didn't include a phone. I remembered a friend of mine from Ontario who does her phone over the Internet using Magic Jack (it looks like a big thumb drive), which you only have to pay a one time fee of $40, and you get unlimited local and long distance calls. She's had it for a year and really likes it. Reviews of the Magic Jack were all positive, so I decided to try it. I mean if you divide $40 by 12 months, that's less than $4 a month, which beats all those other deals. I called the phone company, signed up for a month of broadband, to test things out and make sure it works well, and they told me that at any time I can sign a year contract and then instead of $53 a month, it will be $29! I got my modem today and everything works great, so I'm going to call them and sign up for a year and then my monthly phone/Internet bill will be just over $30 with taxes which beats the $70 + of all the other options. For any of you who have the option, I think this is the way to go. Other pluses of the Magic Jack is that next year, I can renew the membership for only $20, and you can take it with you anywhere. For example, if you go to a hotel that has free high-speed or wireless internet, you can bring the Magic Jack and your laptop, and make any calls you want without paying the hotel charges. Many people in the military use it because they can have a continental phone number on it and then the calls are free. I guess the only downside of the Magic Jack was that I couldn't get a local number. It is actually a Bend, Oregon phone number. But I figure if I'm going to be saving $30, I don't care so much. If you have questions, feel free to email or call me about it 541-508-3595.

Ellen is the total opposite of Calista

You might recall my last post about giving Calista away. Well last weekend Holly Hellburg Davison came over to our house. We ran into her at Walmart the day before and since she was going to be in Pilot Rock the next day, she stopped by. For some reason, Ellen really took to her. She sat on her lap, gave her hugs (really good hugs with her arms wrapped tight around the neck), played with Holly's sunglasses, and mainly just treated her like family. When it was time for Holly to leave, Ellen wanted to go. I tried asking Ellen if she wanted to stay with me, but she said no. Holly started to walk out the door, and I expected Ellen to at least look worried, but instead it was Calista who was yelling and crying that she didn't want Ellen to go. Aaron followed Holly outside to see what would happen. When Jacque learned what was happening, she stood in front of Holly's car door and wouldn't let Holly put Ellen in the backseat. We were curious to see when Ellen would start to miss us, so we let Holly put her in the car. Ellen was totally fine with everything. Then Holly drove around the block a couple of times, but throughout the whole time, Ellen was very content and smiling. Holly came back, Aaron opened the door and grabbed Ellen who smiled and waved good-bye to Holly. It makes me a little nervous that Ellen never acted concerned, but I'm glad to see how protective her sisters were.

Now Ellen doesn't always take to people that easily. At church her old nursery teacher said good-bye and asked for a hug. Ellen looked at her and said, "No." The teacher tried a few times, but still the same response. However, she gladly gave a hug to a man just down the hallway. Maybe its because he's the one who always gives her the bulletin when we walk into the chapel. She is definitely a social one, and I might need to keep a closer eye on her.

Do we keep her or give her away?

Some of you know how Calista acts around guys. She is usually scared of them, and for most of the time growing up she wouldn't even look at one when they came to our house...even if it was an uncle! She would either cover her eyes or hide in my chest the whole time. Well she's been doing better lately, which is great because we have been using a lot of "men" doctors. The doctor we have right now, she likes. Its her friend's dad and he's in our ward. She even said he could sit by her at our ward picnic yesterday and she talked with him.

But the reason for the post. Our home teachers came this afternoon, and Aaron got to teasing Calista that he was going to send her home with them. He said that she'd be really good at doing the dishes, sorting socks, pulling weeds and waxing the car. It was all fun because she was sitting right between daddy's legs. The conversation changed to other things, then the lesson, and then we had our closing prayer. After the prayer, the home teachers came around and shook everyone's hands and said good-bye. As one of the men went to leave, he came up to Calista and picked her up, carrying her like a sack of potatoes over his shoulder and said, "Good-bye!" For the first two seconds, Calista smiled and looked like she was going to laugh. Then I think she remembered the previous conversation, and all of a sudden she was stuck on some guy's shoulder and they were leaving. She looked at me with a panicked expression and yelled, "NO!! Mommy!!" and started crying. The guy felt really bad...he didn't mean to scare her like that, but it was nice to see what would happen if someone did try to steal her away. She wasn't going to go quietly! We decided we'd keep her!!

Update on House

We've been planning on closing on our house on June 18th, but last week we were told that the appraiser couldn't commit to getting the papers all done before the 21st. So now we have a closing date of July 2nd. We were a little frustrated at this news, but this week we got some good news. Aaron signed some "Early Occupancy" papers today which will let us move into the house on June 18th, and then we just pay rent for the two weeks before closing. This means we still only have to move once and we don't have to pay an extra two weeks of rent here! It also means that the people who are going to rent our house after we leave can keep their move in date as June 26! Yay!! Prayers are answered!!! It just means that we need to start packing!

Another side note of what's been going on at our house. I've been working on potty training Ellen. I figured it was better to start here where there isn't any carpet, and its going pretty well. She's only had one accident so far today and its 2pm. We spend a lot of time in the bathroom singing songs and painting our fingernails and toenails, but she's a good sport. Hopefully it keeps going well during the moving process. It will be so nice to be out of diapers for a few weeks!