Two Quick Stories

Miss K decided that we needed to make paper airplanes today. The only problem with that is that I don't really know how to fold one. I used to. I guess that brain cell got replaced with something else vitally important like lyrics to a Queen song or something. She was very frustrated that they weren't flying properly and I told her that I just make terrible airplanes.

A little later, she came up to me and patted my knee. "Mommy, you said your airplanes were terrible. I think they're the best airplanes ever." I melted.

Then at bedtime, we'd played hard and had a bath, brushed teeth etc. and were winding down with a story. Instead of Junior being scared, I accidently said he was "squared". I started laughing and said "I felt round - or maybe oval-ish". She said "I feel sort of.. rectangle-ish" and let loose a belly-laugh that would melt stone.

She's the coolest kid, I swear.

How to Raise a Geekette

I'm SO proud. I splurged and got the original Star Wars trilogy on DVD today (yay finally getting my money back from the attorney). I got Katie psyched up for it and put in IV. As soon as it was over, she says "Let's watch the next one, Mama!" I'm so proud! My little geekette!

--- Update ---
Just after the scene in V where Vader says "Luke, I am your father" and later steps off a ship... Katie says with great disgust "He is the WORST FATHER EVER".

Later at bedtime she told me "When Vader told Luke he was his father? That was VERY upsetting to me!" So I had to tell her how VI ends so she'd calm down and go to sleep. Bless her heart. She IS SO COOL!

She's Insane, you know.

She's buck-naked, with a roll of wrapping paper between her legs like riding a stick horse. But that's not all. No, that would be normal. She also has a hula hoop that she's holding like a giant steering wheel with the roll of wrapping paper sticking forward. AND THEN she has a kazoo in her mouth.

That's my girl. If you're gonna be weird, do it with style.

Christmas 2004

My parents and the Kate-ster. I think my Daddy's handsome :)

Busy Sunday!

We had a little treat today - my parents came to visit! They came up straight after church. When they pulled in, I had the garage door open, the van in the driveway, and was pulling stuff out. Mom pulled off her jacket and launched right in - she's been DYING to clear the junk out for years :) I gave Dad a list of 2 things to start with and added on as the day went by. But I've jumped ahead.

I saw them pull up and Katie was coming out the door. I said "Katie, look who it is!" and she went running to them for hugs. THAT was adorable. Then she had to show them her favorite stuff - especially her GROWN UP girl's booster seat. Meanwhile, Mom is getting things situated and off we went.

Dad's first job was to put the wagon together. He asked me for 3 tools. I went in the house and came out with a screwdriver - "Phillips or Straight?" He looked at me funny and gave me the list of 3 again - not a screwdriver in the bunch. Damn. I could actually FIND the screwdrivers ;) Off I went again, in search of the toolbox. I got downstairs and couldn't remember all 3, so I brought the whole damn box up. Turns out I still didn't have any pliers but I don't have any idea where they might be so he did his best.

Now the cute part - Katie insisted on helping him. I used to be the same way - if Dad had the hood of the car up, I was there, in the way.. I mean, helping :) Katie was doing the same thing and I took a couple of pictures! They got it all finished and went for a walk. Then Katie took her bears for a walk, and then they had a picnic under the tree. It amused her for quite some time.

At some point, the cat managed to escape so there was a 3 person kitty hunt which ended a chuckling grandfather, one annoyed and slightly wet cat, a water hose, a mulch-covered woman, and a child insisting that we be careful and assuring said cat that he would be alright. Toby had an exciting adventure!

End of day tally: Wagon - done. Front drain spouts - rerouted. 3/4 of the garage is now CLEAN, NEAT and organized. WOOO! The garbage men are going to hate me on Friday because there is 4x the usual amount of trash! Stuff I plan to donate or sell in a yardsale are in one place, lawn stuff is in another, all the tools are hung back up, and the lawn mower cleaned up and put away. Two tables were moved to the basement and now Katie has her castle and farm set up. Three more things to move down from her bedroom and she'll have a whole Little People Village down there! She LOVES IT. Gosh she's cute. Oh, and I did the usual 4 loads of laundry and all the dishes. I rock.

I finally called it a day when my feets couldn't take no more. We came in and tried to degrime ourselves, then made burgers and veggies. Katie made her own tiny hamburger, it was adorable. But she didn't really care for getting her fingers slimy. LOL. She entertained everyone by doing summersaults and dance moves.

After dinner, they headed back home and Katie and I went to the basement to fold clothes, watch videos, and tinker with her playroom a bit more. Finally at 9:30 I herded her to the tub and then to bed. She conked out like a little light :)

Thanks Mom and Dad, for the extra hands and energy to get all that done! It feels good!

Whoops!

Doug just told me I had comments set to Blogger accounts only - sorry! It's now open, anyone can comment.

Friday is Fun Day!

My pal at work and I decided to have a little treat for the kids and ourselves. We picked them up from daycare and trundled off to a nearby "playland". This place is awesome. There's a room full of dolls (and houses, castles, boats, pirates, etc.). A room full of costumes for dress up. A mock grocery store and cafe. Outside there's a "dinosaur dig", slides, a pond to fish (magnetic), and loads of sprinklers and water hoses. They played their little hearts out!

J's 2 oldest girls are 6 and 3 and Katie is 4. They mesh together so nicely. They shared, they took turns, there wasn't one pout all night! We left only when they started turning out the lights. It's nearly an hour drive but she stayed awake on the drive back singing to Heywood Banks songs :) We got home, took a warm bath, and she was asleep as soon as we laid down. Happy exhaustion :) I stayed up a couple more hours then I passed out, too :)

Fever :(

Busy evening. Katie came home from daycare and curled up with her blanket in the recliner. This is NOT my bouncy girl. :(

I checked her temp - 102.6 so we'll be staying home tomorrow (today?). Ya know daycare laws - must be fever-free for 24 hours.

She WILLINGLY took the Ibuprofen (again, I'm telling you, scarily compliant!) and zonked straight out at 9 p.m. Hoping she feels better tomorrow...

Hula Hoops and Hershey Bars

This was our shopping list this morning :) We have adult-sized hula hoops which frustrate the little 31 lb. girlie to no end, so I found some that are just HER size, thinking that would improve the odds.

She's determined to learn how to hula but it eludes her so far, which leads to screaming, sobbing and dramatic proclamations like "I'm just a BAD KID!' which leave me pretty bewildered. I had her try just twirling it on her arm, which she couldn't do perfectly the first time but she can do it well enough to be encouraged to keep trying.

How do you teach patience and perseverance to a 4 year old?

Then to make matters worse, she's gotten it into her head that Halloween is tonight/sometime soon. Sigh.

I think someone needs a nap - and so does the kid! ;)

Dancing Day

I remembered (yay! the brain cells worked!) that Katie's feet were too tight in her tap shoes, so we went shopping last night. Black shiny leotard with matching skirt, white leather ballet shoes, a pink leotard with glitter and attached skirt, new tap shoes, and new "school" shoes. She was ecstatic.

As soon as she was able, she was in the black dance outfit and flitting around the house. She wanted to sleep in them AND wear them to dance this morning. Such a funny little bird.

Every other day this week she's whined and drug her feet about going to school. This morning at 8:15 she was dressed and ready to go, racing me to the car. I think someone was motivated ;)

Bobbie Day!

Wednesday was Bobbie Day. Bobbie has been Katie's babysitter since she was just a few weeks old. Bobbie is terrific and we adore her. She picked Katie up from daycare and they had SUCH an adventure! First they went shopping for a new swimsuit and then over to Bobbie's grandmother's house to swim. Later they went to McDonald's for dinner and then called to see if she could go to the movies. They saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!

Bobbie said that Katie was real quiet in the car on the way home and said "I wish home was closer, I'm tired." They got in around 9:20 and after saying goodbye, we went right up to bed for stories. She was zonked out cold by 10 and didn't get up til after 7 the next day! Yay Bobbie for wearing her little booty out :)

BTW: the new bathing suit is a leopard-print bikini. *giggle*

Some Serious Talk

Perhaps she's just at "that age", but Miss K has been a lot obstinate this week. Doesn't want to go to school, doesn't want to talk on the phone, eat dinner, take a bath.. blah blah blah.

This weekend was a little out of the ordinary, in that we had some "Daddy time" for 3 days in a row. Maybe she's had trouble adjusting back, I'm not sure. But this morning we were eating breakfast and she told me that she misses Daddy. I said "I miss him sometimes, too, but we're much happier living in different houses. We're not so grumpy this way."

She got a real serious look on her face. "Are you mad at Daddy, is that why you were grumpy together?" I told her no, just some times adults figure out that they aren't best friends after all and they don't belong together... but that it doesn't apply to children and she will always belong to both me AND Daddy. I told her we're very lucky - she has two parents that love her very much and she has TWO homes full of love.

She processed that for a minute and for the rest of the morning was relatively easy to get along with.

When she's acting up, it's easy to start losing my patience - but I know her, and there is usually a really good reason for it. Gosh I love that little girl.