Birthday!

Tim took the day off yesterday to try to get rid of extra vacation days before the end of the year (I'm super jealous). Josh came over, and together they put the rest of the insulation in the barn ceiling. Tim also decided to give me my present--well, hang up my present actually. We found this beautiful thing in a small family-owned kithcen and bathroom store in Marshalltown, and I immediately fell in love with it! Tim sectretly went back and bought it for me. What a wonderful surprise to come home from work to! My dining room looks completely different, in a VERY good way! :) You can't see all the detail in the pictures because of the lighting, but you can get the idea.





And as an extra birthday treat, I got a birthday postcard in the mail from Iowa Senator Steve Sodders. Just what I wanted!! How did they know? Seriously. This may make me a bad citizen, but I had no idea who this guy was before yesterday, yet somehow he knows my birthday? Weird.

Oh Christmas Tree

We cut down our tree yesterday and decorated the house! First Kendall and I made a fire...


Then we put on the lights, and again Kendall helped. :-)

Eating Oreos

Tim decided it was time to teach Kendall how to eat oreos. 

First attempt: taking bites

Second attempt: learning to dunk



Third attempt: trying to put the two together = FAIL

A few things

Here is a very quick summation of my life lately...

1. I have a pretty major weakness for Rolos. What could be better than chocolate and caramel?

2. My daughter is almost 14 months old now and is learning so much every day! She brings home pictures she colored at daycare daily and her new favorite phrase is “what is that?” Sleeping is still an issue, but I’ve resigned myself to accepting that it always will be that way.

3. I can’t wait for Thanksgiving break! I love holidays and spending time with family! This is my favorite time of year.

4. I’m going to be 30 in 20 days. That number really bothers me.

5. I wish my nails would grow and could look pretty. I have very weak nails that crack and break all the time. And I don’t want to spend the extra money it would take to try to make them nicer.

6. I like my husband a lot. And if I had the chance, I would marry him all over again… right honey? :)

Fun at the Cutlers

This last weekend we made a trip to Pella to visit Grandma Evenhouse, and then stayed to hang out with Dad and Jim. While the boys worked on moving the dirt pile from the front of the house to the side, Kendall and I went over to the Cutler house to play on their playground (even though no one was home there).



Kendall had a blast! She is moving around so well now, it's incredible. Last Wednesday she decided she was going to walk from now on, and she hasn't stopped!

At the SyWassinks

Kendall loves babies! Especially her little cousins Paisley and Adelyn! She’s not very good at being gentle yet though. She starts out patting gently, but then gets excited and starts whacking a little too hard. But I love to see her give her cousins hugs. How sweet! Here’s a video of her talking to Adelyn. Just wait until the other 2 girls start talking! It’ll be a mad house when we all get together!



Kendall also loves the zebra toy the SyWassinks have at their house. She has learned how to get on and off by herself and how to spin the toy to make the music start. Then it’s time to dance and bounce! I still can’t fathom how a person can love something so small so much, but I do! There’s nothing like the love parents have for their children!

Sorry!

I was reminded today by my sisters Laura and Bethany about how incredibly long its been since I've blogged! Way, way too long. So I'll give you a quick rundown of what's been going on in the life of the Gladbrook Klinges.

1. I found out that I have hypothyroidism. I've been taking pills for a little over a week now, and I am definitely seeing a difference. I have more energy, my mind doesn't get fuzzy at certain times in the day, and I've lost 3 pounds without even trying! As much as I hate having yet ANOTHER thing wrong with me, at least there is a fix.

2. I've sold 5 hats in the last 3 weeks! AH! I'm so excited about that, but have so little time to knit, it's also almost been a little stressful. I still have one more to complete. It's been so fun! I love making things that people like and appreciate and can even make us some extra money. :)

3. Tim (with the help of Josh) has been working a lot more in the barn again. They have all the wiring run and he has most of the outlets done. It's looking great!

4. I've been getting more used to my job, and enjoying it more. It's not my dream job, but I also don't dread going to work everyday. I really enjoy the people I work with, so that makes things pretty good!

5. We are working on getting Kendall to sleep through the night. So far the score is Kendall: 4 Parents: 0 So not going as well as I was hoping, but I haven't lost all hope yet. I also haven't been very good at setting the routine as I was hoping, so really, its my fault.

6. Kendall is so close to walking! She can take 5 or 6 steps by herself now and is getting braver every day. Pretty soon she's just going to just take off and be walking/running everywhere. I love watching her grow and learn!

7. We just got our pictures taken for the church directory. It went ok. We got a couple pictures of Kendall kind of smiling, so that's better than what we expected. Here's her outfit:


And that's been life lately. Busy, busy, busy. Hopefully I'll find some more time to blog this month. Sorry to leave everyone hanging! :)