More of the Same

I feel the need to apologize for being so boring. I feel like all my pictures and posts are the same: Kate doing dress-up; Kate doing dress-up with a friend; Kate doing something silly; Kate at a local attraction like a museum; Blah, Blah, Blah. So to mix it up, I have Kate doing something silly in the lazy Susan, Kate dressing up as wedding girl, and Kate at the zoo-Whoopee! I don't know what to say. How can I spice my life up? Any ideas?

Exciting Photo # 1

Kate snuck into the lazy Susan yesterday. She had the door shut when I found her. What a crack up. I don't know what goes through her mind sometimes. She's my feral child.

Exciting Photo # 2: Wedding Girls

It seems like I have a lot of photos just like this. Kate talks about her wedding a lot. Whenever she sees beautiful jewelry, flowers, or if she sees me in a dress she likes she says, "You can give this to me at my wedding."

Exciting Photo #3: Dress-up

Grandma M gave Kate this beautiful dress-up dress out of the blue. She also gave her the matching crown and wand but Kate was wearing this other crown because she just got it as a party favor from a birthday party she went to.

We went to the ZOO!

Exciting Photo #4: The Baby Elephant

My good friend got us into the zoo for free! We saw all the zoo babies that everyone has been raving about - fun!

Exciting Photo # (what am I on now, 5?) Kate & Elle

Exciting Photo # 6: Kate & Mr. Rhino

Exciting Photo #7: Us on the Carousel (Kate riding a Panda)

Exciting Photo # 8: Elisa and her two cuties

Exciting Photo # 9: More of the Feral Child

So, Kate and Elle ran off ahead of us and we found them on these statues. I'm pretty sure Kate shoved these kids out of the way and I'm almost positive their moms were trying to take pictures when Kate pushed them out of the way. SORRY.

Exciting Photo # 10

We took our pictures and quickly got out of the way.

On other news, Scott and I were recently released from our church calling with the Young Single Adults. We were surprised by the change and have been adequately bummed out about it. We will like not being away from Kate so much because we did have a lot of activities that we needed to find a babysitter for Kate and that was tricky but we LOVED serving in a calling together and being with the YSA. We've built friendships that we want to maintain and that has been fun.

Scott was called to be the Assistant Scout Master. He was just in a calling with the young men before our YSA calling as Second Counselor in the Young Men's Presidency so it's funny to have him right back there with a slightly different role.

So far, no calling for me. With each passing day of not having a calling I become more and more nervous that I'm not got going to like my next calling right at first. I'm hoping to be a teacher in the primary or something fun like that. We'll see.

And, I did end up moving the playroom upstairs. I would post before and after pictures but it's really nothing special. I didn't paint the walls a fun color or do anything special. But it has been nice to have toys upstairs and to have a purpose for the room. Now the empty room is downstairs and it doesn't bother me as much. Someday it can be a guest room or something.

A Plant, A Helmet, & Two Fawns

We were given a plant to babysit while some basement renters from next door vacation and look for another place. They asked me to watch their corn leaf palm for a month or so. And this is so rude but I hope they don't come back to claim it because I adore having their plant here. Kate and I need to come up with a name for it, don't you think? Any suggestions? We finally bought Kate a helmet. I figured it was time to teach safety-actually long overdue. We go to the cabin so much and ride four-wheelers and NEVER use any kind of protective head gear. That's irresponsible enough and we've been putting Kate at risk and she's too little and innocent to know better. So, breathe easy mom, her head is now protected (Have I ever mentioned that my mom is a CPS worker?). I should probably get one made just for ATV's. And I plan on it. But this is as far as we've gotten. The ATV helmets are not cheap so I'll buy one next spring since heads grow and we probably won't do much more four-wheeling this year as fall and winter approach. Now it's time for Scott and I to get some helmets so we can be better examples.

Oh, and I love the tap shoes. My sister, Jeni, found them (or maybe it was Sami) at the DI (local thrift store) and Kate loves them.

Kate spotted two fawns across the street from our house. They were eating the neighbor's flowers. We see a lot of wildlife in our neighborhood and it makes it fun.

Today, I'm trying to decide whether to move Kate's playroom upstairs into the empty room that Kate began calling "the rocking chair room." We've had a little TV in there that only plays VHS and Kate uses it in the morning to watch a movie while I get ready. Later in the day we use the rocking chair to read stories. But the rocking chair is getting uncomfortable, mainly because Kate is getting too big and the rocking chair is busting from all the abuse. The last week we've sat in the living room to read stories. If I get brave and dismantle the playroom, I'll post some before and after shots. I should just do it. We'll see.

Playdates & Preschool

Kate started Preschool last week! This has been wonderful for both of us so far! I love having the break to pursue hobbies and Kate comes back full of good stuff. I LOVE asking her questions about what she's learning. She gives me on-the-level answers even. Yesterday I asked her what Miss Connie (her teacher) does when she or other kids in the class are too noisy. Kate used her sing-song voice to say, "Zip up you lips everybody." and then she did the little zipping motion with her fingers on her lips. Too CUTE!
Last night, Kate had a playdate with a neighbor-friend, Cali. Since Kate is an only child, I am trying to hold more regular playdates with girls her age.

I love Kate's over-the-top poses she does. She can't just smile-she's in character. Oh, and these are the free-for-all roses that I set-aside as "fair game" for picking.

P.S. The other day Kate found a couple crowns of broccoli awaiting rinsing and chopping. Before I could say bobshrackle Kate was marching around the house with her "bouquet" of broccoli, humming the wedding march. What do boys do with broccoli crowns, I wonder?