The letter R

Hailee likes to play a computer game online at www.starfall.com. It teaches early reading skills and things for kids. The thing about Hailee is she likes to discover things on her own. So she just sits up to the computer and clicks away for hours. She has found stuff that I don't even know where they are. Last night we were sitting in our room and she was asking us things like "What does Ariel start with" so I sound it out and say "I think it starts with D"and she yells out "no it starts with A" "What does Max start with?" then she says "M" and on and on it went through all of her favorite words. We came upon a word that started with R and this is how our conversation went...

Hailee: R is kind of angry mom
Nicole: Why is R kind of angry
Hailee: Because R says "RRRRRRRRRRR" (making the R sound with her best grumpy face)

Todd and I just started laughing. What a funny little girl. I never would have though of letters having emotions. She has loved her computer game and has learned so much. She is starting to sound words out on her own and she loves learning all the things they have on there. Before coming to Oregon she learned about Idioms. The example they used was "Ants in your pants." A few days were were driving to Coscto and a lady was in a big hurry and cut me off. I said "Wow she is in a hurry" and from the back I hear "She must have ants in her pants."

Final days in Oregon

Coach Ian, Hailee and Coach Erin

Well we've been having a lot of endings this week, Friday was Hailee's last day of soccer and Todd's last day of work. Both very sad occasions. Friday we went to Hailee's soccer class and she had so much fun. She got a little certificate saying she was moving on to the next level of soccer. Her coach told me she was the only one they recommended to move to the next class. She was in a class of all boys, one was a little younger, and the other two were older. I'm so proud of her and all the things she has learned. At the beginning she wanted me right by her side and by the end she would occasionally wave and tell me to watch her. She became quite independent.

This is one Hailee's favorite game to play. They drive their little motor boats around honking the horn and looking out for sharks. As soon as the coach yells "SHARK" the have to drop their boats (little blue rubber circles) and jump on top.

Todd's last day of work went well and was very sad for him at the same time. He has enjoyed HP and the people he got to work with. Thursday night Sue, Todd's manager, had a salmon BBQ at her house to say good bye to us. It was a lot of fun to get together with everyone one last time. We'll have to see where this next year takes us. I'm sure it will be a fun adventure. Now it's time to get packed and ready to go.

Spicy

Today Hailee was helping me take out the recycling. Inside there were a number of vanilla coke cans and one orange fanta drink. Our conversation went like this.

Hailee: Mom that drink is my drink (pointing to the orange fanta)
Nicole: Yes it is, we're going to go recycle the can.
Hailee: Mom that drink is your drink (pointing to the vanilla coke)
Nicole: Yes that is mommy's drink
Hailee: I don't like that drink, it makes me kind of spicy
Nicole: Really?
Hailee: Yes just a little spicy

I have no idea where she got that idea from. We've talked about it before, I always said that it wasn't good for little girls. I don't know where she got spicy from, but it made me laugh so hard this morning. It's so funny to hear what little kids come up with sometimes.

Denial

So I think Hailee and I are living in denial about leaving Oregon, neither one of us is really ready to admit that it's almost time to go home. This morning we got up and decided to go pick blueberries at a place just outside of Corvallis. We had so much fun. The blueberries were only $1/pound so we picked tons and it only came to 2 1/2 pounds. I really should be packing and getting ready, but on the other hand there aren’t any places in Utah to pick blueberries. Now I'm just trying to decided if it's possible to take blueberries home to Utah. Hmmmm..... definitely worth trying.



Later we went to our last picnic in the park with our ward. Hailee had such a good time playing with Livvy. She is going to miss her new little friend and we're all going to miss our friends that we've made here. Of course Hailee and Livvy didn't want to stop to get their picture taken so I had to take it when they were off playing.

Balance in the Universe

According to Todd there has to be balance in the universe. So whenever something good happens he likes to tease that something has to go wrong later. Well on August 20th he went to the internship meeting with HP. They had a drawing and Todd won a 24" flat screen monitor. He was so excited. (When he went to HP's information session at BYU he won an iPAQ. For some reason he has been really lucky with HP's drawings). Well his "balance in the universe" theory came into play this week. The next day he was busy getting is presentation ready and his computer crashed and his presentation and project files were corrupted. Luckly after a few hours with IT the were able to recover some of it and he was able to finish the rest. He stayed at work late and went in at 6:30 the next morning, but he was able to get things finished. His presentation yesterday went really well. He has one more today and then it looks like he'll just have a few more things to wrap up. His last day is Friday and Hailee and I are so proud of him. He is doing such a great job.

HP Picnic

Saturday we had a great time at the HP summer picnic. They had so many fun things to do and so many yummy things to eat. It was like going to a fair, except you didn't have to pay for anything. The highlights for Hailee were the bouncing things and the fire truck. We stood in line for the pony ride, but when we got to the front she decided she didn't want to ride. What a funny girl. In the morning Todd had to go into work for a minute and told Hailee that we would go on a picnic when he got back. She was even more excited to find out the picnic was going to be at daddy's work. She was bouncing around all morning and so sad to come home that evening. I guess it lived up to her expectations. I couldn't believe all the people and all the things they had going on. It was so much fun.


Hailee bouncing. Todd said when she first went inside (I was in line for the pony) she wasn't sure she would like it. Then she took a bounce and loved it and didn't want to stop. Even after going in a few times she wasn't ready to leave.
Hailee going through the fire truck.

Pickle races

We only have one more week of soccer and I'm not quite sure how to tell Hailee that it's almost over. She has loved going to class every week. The last couple of weeks it's been all on her own and I get to watch from the sidelines. This video is of her running pickle races with her coaches. I think this one she would have to eat pickles and chocolate ice cream if she lost and if she won her coaches have to eat the pickles and chocolate ice cream. She loves coach Ian and coach Erin and has such a fun time playing soccer.