Spud Conversation

Tonight I saw Katherine's head spin. I told her that I had lived with a friend before I married her dad... on my own without my parents... Every circuit in her brain was audibly buzzing and she began to list all the items she would bring with her when she moves out with her best friend, Ella Shay. She paused and looked at me only for a moment to ask if she could bring Daddy's iPad... And I thought, "At least at age 4 she still thinks to ask..."

Lately Katherine has been re-testing all the boundaries and when she doesn't like being told no, she unleashes a she-demon... So I've gone back to lots of prayer and parenting books and self-analyzing. I keep thinking "Unconditional love. Discipline with teaching not just punishment." blah blah bah. It all sounds so good, but is so hard to put it into practice. However, I've noticed that usually when I say "Stop whining," I haven't been telling what she could say instead. So today, I purposefully tried to teach how to express herself without whining... I was able to diffuse two episodes that otherwise would have been knock-down dragged out fights. She still hated me telling her "no" but at least she leashed the she-demon!

A Sunday afternoon

Katherine's idea: First paint our own faces without a mirror and then paint each other's face... 

 ... and then she got a mirror and finished the job...

 And I just can't help myself. I had to add one more of this cure baby.

So I've been following pinterest, avidly searching for home improvement ideas. One of the fun ones I've found was a way to get that pile of stuffed animals off our floor... 

 and yet, somehow I think they'll still be there...

The best part of this story was HOW EXCITED the guys at Home Depot were to help. They offered to build our "zoo" for us  but we ended up assembling it at the store. The craftsmanship was so good and "Tim Man," as Katherine called him, routed the wood with "The Zoo" as a surprise. It was awesome.

Hooray for Carlsbad

Our second annual trip to Carlsbad was a total success. A day and a half playing on the beach and a trip to the Safari Park was just the right speed. This is one of the best traditions we could have come up with.

The 6 hour drive was a good practice for when we drive up to Oregon in a few weeks. The girls handled it pretty well and the parents are now convinced that driving through the night is the only way to go! 

We have some darling videos that are not uploading properly... I am very frustrated...