Poor Vision

Poor supervision that is.

I will start by saying that Tyler is a great dad. With that said I will include he is not a perfect dad... nor am I a perfect mom. However, I DO try to supervise Quincy to the best of my abilities. There are just too many things which he can destroy. We're not rich folks, and we don't have the nicest of things, but we try to take care of what we've got.

Last week I peeked into Quincy's room, after Tyler graciously allowed me some quiet time, to find this:

And what was Tyler doing?

TEXTING!


Where is the supervision? It would seem that dad is slacking a little. I write all this in good humor. I just thought it was funny that while I peeked through my son's door this is what I saw. I couldn't resist to grab the camera and gather evidence.


He really is a good dad................................................One of the best. :o)

Shave and a Haircut, Two Bits

It is hard to believe that this much hair came off my baby's head. I think Tyler probably had as much after I cut his hair. Quincy's been long overdue for a haircut, actually both boys were in desperate need of one. I finally broke down after looking at long shaggy hair covering their ears. It seems their hair grows just as quickly as I cut it, which is why I was holding off for a while. After all, I don't get paid to do it.

So, after this much hair came off......

This was the result. He looks bald as usual. I would be happy to cut it with the clippers on the bottom and use scissors on the top, like I do with Tyler's, but have you ever tried to hold a pair of scissors to a kids head? It's impossible to cut a straight line... which is why, until he's old enough to sit still.... we'll buzz it.

Tyler keeps telling me he wants me to buzz his head... he says this every time I mention the word haircut. However, I informed him that until his hairline recedes past the tops of his ears... I will not be buzzing it. I told him he has some hair, so he might as well own it.


Funny how much work and effort is put into this buzz haircut. First we have to cover his arms and legs; not because we don't want to get hair on his clothes, but because we can't have him reaching those arms and legs out to flail them. Next we have to have someone who entertains, this person is Tyler. He holds a spray water bottle in Quincy's mouth and sprays every so often to keep him preoccupied. Of course, there's the occasional head turn that Quincy throws in right when I'm about to cut.... or the cringe of his neck as I get those vibrating hair clippers next to his skull. It is quite the team effort. If only I had a girl... I could just let her hair grow... and grow.... and GroW and not worry about haircuts!



All in all it turned out great... but how could it be bad it was just a buzz?

Fun for the Family:

On Saturday Tyler was home and we had to run some errands. For lunch we headed over to:

Who knew that they had free hot dogs and drinks at RC Wiley? We did. You know were all about the free stuff. There were so many people there before Super Bowl Sunday.... nobody noticed a family of three showing up for just the hot dogs.

After we ate our hot dogs, we went for a little browse around the store. Quincy got to ride in this:

He loved it.... the steering wheel even turned.... and so he was entertained......for a while. When he finally got tired of being trapped in the RC Race Car he found these perfect child sized leather chairs to relax in.

I set him in the chair and he immediately lounged back to watch Mama Mia playing on a big screen TV across the furniture display. It was funny.

We had a hard time trying to pry him away from the chair... and the movie. The only thing which did the trick was a red balloon.

Just another ordinary Saturday for the Howard's.

And one more special day for Quincy filled with hot dogs, race cars, leather lounge chairs,movies, and red balloons.

The End.

Real Men Shave.

Quincy's latest trick is shaving. He has watched Tyler shave with his electric razor once and developed a need of his own to start shaving.

BEFORE:

Getting started...................

Making progress..............

I'm all done!

AFTER:

My little baby is growing up so fast.... he was once crying for me to hold him close and now he's shaving like a grown up teenager. When I asked him why he felt the need to start so young, he just said, "Cuz the chicks dig it mom."

Kids..... Where DO they learn these things from:

Last summer for Quincy's first Birthday he got this fourwheeler from Tyler's parnets.

I have to say... it was a nice gift, although I would have preferred to have a toy that plays music which also includes an off button..... however, Quincy's loved it. Now that he's a little bigger, he has learned to ride backwards-- he's still working on goin forwards--. Not only has he discovered that the fourwheeler is good for riding backwards.... he has discovered that he can also do this:

Where did he learn this from? Not me. He must have just thought.... "Hmmm, what else can I do with this bike?"

While I was cleaning out the closet in Quincy's room I came across these:

I think we spent about 20 minutes straight blowing bubbles it would have been longer, but the carpet was getting a little too soapy. Quincy loves them!!

What is it about bubbles that is so magical? I think almost all kids are intrigued with them.

Talk about cheap entertainment..... those costed like, what? $1.00??

Moving....

No, we're not moving, but our neighbors upstairs have.

Sooooo, if you know anyone who's looking for a 2 bedroom 1 bath, all appliances including washer/dryer, and water/sewer/ trash paid for a whopping $495 a month.... please move in. We could always use some nice friendly neighbors!

The neighbors that moved out were very friendly... not members, but nice people. The lady who rented the apartment had her daughter and granddaughter living with her. Her granddaughter Kelsey was cute. Quincy was quite the flirt when Kelsey was around. That's what he was doing at the window..... looking to make sure he knew exactly where Kelsey was.

He watched practically the whole day from this window as they loaded up truckload after truckload. I think he must have made it his personal mission to watch every piece of furniture get loaded into that truck.

He'll be sad to see her go.

On the plus side, maybe I can avoid him having any serious girlfriends before he's 2! :o)

Escape to Paradise?

What do we do when Tyler's out of town?

Well, mostly we hang out around the house in our pajamas.... and if that gets old, which is ALWAYS does, then we get out. This proves to be easier said than done. It's difficult to get around Boise without a car; especially when it's 30* or colder outside. Luckily we do have a stroller, that is getting smaller by the day, and that's our transportation while Tyler's gone.

By the time Wednesday came around we, and mostly I, were sick of being in the house. I mean you can only take so much of looking at the same things every day before you just want to escape.


.................And escape we did....................

First we had to bundle up for the cold weather:

We went for a walk down the street, or rather across the street, to the Deseret Industries. It's always interesting to see what you can find. We didn't pick up anything. Then we headed further down the street to Other Mothers. Quincy liked this store more because I let him play on the toys.

He had so much fun in this toy car. Unfortunately, another little boy saw all the fun he was having and hopped in the car while Quincy was out for a minute. Quincy was a little bit upset, but to my surprise did not retaliate by hitting or throwing a fit. What a good boy!

What's in a Name?

My full name is Kati McCall (Lindquist) Howard.



Let me tell you how it came to be that.



When my parents found out I was going to be a girl they tried to come up with some girl names-- like everyone who is expecting a baby does. My mom always said they didn't agree on many. She liked the names Marren and Claire, while my dad preferred something different. One of the only names they could agree on was Katie.



If I back up a little, I'll tell you the reason why they settled on Katie. When my mom was little her grandpa, my great-grandpa, said she was just as cute as a little Katidid bug. Now, I'll have you know that I googled an image of an actual Katidid bug, and I must say... cute wasn't exactly the word I would have used to describe it. However, this little pet name he came up with for her was special because he died when she was in her youth.



Flash forward 20 years and my parents agreed that they would name me Katie, but Kati.... no E. ** This proved to be difficult for teachers and friends... as they always spelt my name with an E. It use to bother me and I would tell them my name isn't Kati-E , it's Kat-I. Eventually I got tired of correcting people and just let them spell it however they thought it was.... unless they asked in which I case I told them how to correctly spell it. And so it was decided upon I was going to be named Kati.



Today I thought it would be interesting to google my name and see what popped up. These are all the images that came up from just typing in Kati..... although I had to search a few pages into it. Most of them pictured many other Kati's.... some old, some young.



Kati:

Here is another Kati's Blog header.... I thought she had good taste... very pretty and all.

Did you know there is a modern furniture line in Finland called Kati?

And these beautiful Cymbidium Orchids were picked by Kati... my kind of gal.

And here is Kati's plane.... pretty cool. Bet you didn't know I had a plane, huh?

And just look at these lovely Kati fish!

Here is a retro looking rack to hold books, it's called... wouldn't know it.... the Kati rack.

And, wow look at those tasty looking Kati rolls, who knew my name looked so yummy?

And here we go, just to show that the name Kati isn't all frills and fluff... it's the Kati tank! Watch out boys.

Again, some lovely dishes.... the Kati line.

This picture cracked me up... it's from Kati's Star Wars blog! Featuring these lovely Star Wars Cupcakes....this Kati has too much time on her hands!

And look, it's Kati's violin. Ironic....I used to play the violin.

I thought these nature pictures were pretty, Kati's Cliffs and Kati's butterfly.

Upon finally agreeing on a first name, my parents had the fun task of choosing a middle name. I know some people never get middle names, but in my family they did. :o) Now my middle name was easier chosen than my first name... after all your middle name is predominately used by your parents, when you're in trouble in most cases. My parents were set on Kati Nicole. However, as you all know my name didn't end up Kati Nicole..... "how did it become Kati McCall?" you ask?

Here's the story.... my mom's mom, we call her Nanny, was on the phone with my mom. During their conversation she told Nanny they were going to name me Kati Nicole. To which my Nanny replied.... "Oh Kati McCall, what an interesting name." They went back and forth with my mom saying, "No, Kati Nicole...." and of course my Nanny would say back, "Yes, Kati McCall, I like it. It's so unusual." So here I am today.... Kati McCall.

Here are the Google results for McCall......

McCall:

You could all go to camp McCall, I've never been myself, but the sign looks creepy enough with that roaring fire, bright full mom and a cross that appears to be hanging from a tree... what?

Or you could own one of these lovely little McCall dolls.

Here is the McCall home.... pretty colonial style if I don't say so myself.

And here's a great shot of the mountains near McCall.

I've actually been to this lake... and have a picture quite similar to this one.... it's in... McCall, ID, duh!

And here's a classy cartoon picture of a McCall car. Very retro.

Who could resist ole' Cash McCall music? I've never heard of him.

And on the flip side.... who HASN'T heard of McCall's sewing patterns? I swear my mom alone owned tons of them. That's probably the only place I ever saw my middle name until I moved to Idaho.

Here's a great picture of my favorite weather station, Channel 7.... "We're first, live, local."

And here's a pretty picture of McCall park in D.C.

Don't worry.... I've only got two more names left. :o) Lindquist as you all know was given to me from my dad, although I've now taken on the last name Howard. I remember after Tyler and I were first married how weird it sounded to say Kati Howard, or how purely by instinct I would sign Kati Lindquist on accident... I mean I only wrote it my whole life. It always sounded weird being called sister Howard, doesn't everyone know that's Tyler's mom? Now that Tyler and I have been married for almost 3 years.... I no longer feel strange to my "new" name.

The google results for Howard were more predictable.... funny how the majority of them are African American people. I wonder how many generations back Tyler's family was all black.

Howard:

The famous baseball player Ryan Howard of course.....

And who could forget Dwight Howard in this classic superman dunk?

And wouldn't you know it Howard University came up, as did Howard Interior Design Co, and Howard Stern.... probably the only white man to come up under the Howard google search.

I was just thinking about names and such because a girl in our ward, Jessica Cranny, is pregnant and we were talking about names. She and her husband are having a difficult time deciding/ agreeing on one. To some people naming a child is pure instinct, other's are named after family members. Jessica told us how she once knew a girl named Rose Hedges.... who does that to their child? While I was looking online I found a website called: http://www.funnynames.com/. It had lists of all the absurd names people have. One listing I found was A. Hah......... Cheesy I know.

I remember when we finally agreed on a name for our baby boy.... Quincy, obviously, ...... we couldn't pick a middle name. I liked the name Taylor, but we decided that having the initials Q.T. would be a little much for a teenage boy or even a grown man. Thus he became Quincy James.

I know their are people out there who dislike their names.... but not me. Every part of my name is special. It reminds me of people I love.