I just have to record this in case it never happens again...

Yesterday, Kate ate a TON of chicken and she ate scrambled eggs.

Two foods see NEVER eats...in the same day.

Landmark occassion.

Just needed to record it for posterity.

Bed Head

This is what nap hair looks like.It must have been a good nap.

6 Week Rest OVER

That's right...Kate's six week period of prohibited strenuous activity is over. Today, we return to gymnastics after almost 9 weeks off. I'm sure it will be as if no time has past.

Kate's Point of View

Kate has been talking a lot lately. Like, she never shuts up. Today, there was always something coming out of her mouth. Sometimes it's singing (ABC's or Ring Around the Rosie), sometimes it's a narration of her world (Payee abba ju, Tate mikey, Dadda a wurk), and sometimes it's just a lot of noise. I don't think she is trying to actually communicate half the time. She just wants to see what she can make her mouth produce.


Here are a few phrases that she has uttered over the past few days that just make us smile. Too bad she knows she's so cute.


A conversation we had Wednesday morning:
K: Dadda wook you up.
M: Daddy woke me up?
K: yeaaaaaaa.
M: No, Daddy didn't wake me up. I woke up by myself.
K: Dadda wook you up TATE (patting herself on the chest).
M: Daddy woke Kate up?
K: yeaaaaaa.
M: No he didn't. Padyn woke you up, silly girl.

Typical conversation when I go in after her nap:
K: I see Payee. Abba ju Payee? (I want to see Padyn. [Do you have] Apple juice [for] Padyn?)
M: Yes, I have Padyn's apple juice. What do I have for Kate?
K: Milky! Ianna see Payee, Ianna see Payee! (I want to see Padyn!)

If we say it's time to pray, she will fold her hands together, squeeze her eyes shut and say:
Dank doo Wenny, Joss, ama. (Thank you [for] Wendy [and] Josh. Amen.

Then, of course, there's the conversation we have every time we go see the pediatrician (we've been twice in the last month...that doesn't count the broken leg time.)
M: We going to see Dr. A today.
K:Ianna see Docker Oh. Ianna see Docker Oh! (I want to see Dr. A.)
M: Yea...we are going.
K: Aheepa! Ianna aheepa! (Lollipop. I want a lollipop!). [then this phrase is repeated over and over in ever increasing volume.)

I can't begin to list all the words she can say, because there are just too many. She can name people, food, locations in the house, friends, animals, favorite activities, and much much more. Unfortunately, hardly anyone else but myself understands what she is saying most of the time. Her pronunciation leaves MUCH to be desired. Hopefully it will improve within the next year so by the time she gets too preschool I don't have too stay as a translator.

Photo Friday

Today's Photo Friday is brought to you by pictures from Washington that you haven't seen yet...because I haven't taken a single picture since we got home Monday night.

first time ever bowlingSuper Kate and her super shoes...you must be extra super powers when you wear two different kinds peek-a-boobird's eye view
Kate's one and only trip down the hill on the sled
Happy Friday.

Mo' Money

Today I (stupidly) let Padyn play with this spelling dice game that I bought to use sometime in the future when I go back to working in a classroom. I didn't want her to play with it by herself, but she was constantly bugging me about wanting it, wanting it, wanting it...so I let her play with it with her older (3rd grade) cousin. I figured Kellie would be more responsible and the dice would be more likely to end up back in the jar.

You know what's coming...OF COURSE one die was missing within 5 MINUTES of them playing with it. I made them search high and low and no die could be found. So, I did what any responsible, yet highly irritated Mommy would do. I told her I'd take the money out of her piggy bank to replace the game. (These were not cheap dice. Mommy was pissed, mostly at myself because I knew I shouldn't have let her play with it).

She got upset and pretended to cry for a few minutes then went back to searching for the lost die.

A few minutes later she came up to me. With a big smile plastered across her face, she said the greatest thing I've heard all day...

It's OK if you take money out of my piggy bank because I don't really know how to use money.

Maybe I need to think of a new consequence.

sidenote-the die was later found in the shoe of her other older cousin. How it got in his shoe, no one claims to know. I'm just happy it was found.

Just Playin in the Rain

It wasn't really rain. It was just highly overcast, everything on the ground was soaking wet, and it was pickin' cold. Of course we are going to be at the playground on a day like that! (especially when the alternative is watching yet another show on the Disney channel.)

heading to the playground

too cute...except for the hood/hat combination...

stop the madness...go inside where it's warm NOW!queen of all she surveys

all bundled up and nowhere to gothis is how Kate gives hugs

Kate loves jumping...even if she can't see where she's landing

SNOW!

We are currently in Washington where the average daytime temperature is about 12 degrees cooler than at our house in sunny CA. For Padyn, that means she's a bit more willing to wear her sweater than she is at home, but not by much. Anyhoo...we decided to hit the "slopes" for some serious sledding yesterday. Well, serious if you are 4 years old. Not quite sloping if you are over the age of ten, but fun nonetheless.

Padyn had a FABULOUS time (much to our surprise). She thought this was the greatest recreational activity she's ever done. I think she even liked it better than tubing. She was so disappointed when we told her it was time to go home. Poor baby. I guess this means we should take her to the snow more than once every two years.

I took a few pictures then I had to put the camera away because the snow started coming down and everything was getting wet and foggy. Not too good for photo opportunities. When the snow stopped, I got out the camera again to capture the extreme fun Padyn and the rest of the gang was having. (Truth be told, by this time, Padyn was the only young kid still enjoying herself.)

You might be wondering where Kate was in all of this. After the first 20 minutes or so, she decided she hated her mittens and took them off. I told her she needed to put them back on or go sit in the car. She choose to sit in the car with Lily Dog and Uncle Greggie. These were her biggest smiles of the day. Apparently, Lily's ball and water bottle are much more entertaining than snow.

Have you seen the photos yet?

I may not have any new pictures to post here, but I have been uploading them to Flickr. Go see what December looked like.

Clarity

So, this little picture that Padyn drew for me the other day? Well, it's not an original. Apparently, this is her new art. She has been drawing them all week. Same size paper, one color pen. Finally, though, I know what it is. I thought it was two people lying on surfboards in a pool. How wrong I was. She told me, with minimal disdain, that it is her and Emily on the swings at the park.

Of course. Why couldn't I see it before?

Her Own Personal TV Guide

I forgot to tell you something new that Kate has been doing lately...

My child, who up until a few months ago refused to sit and watch television, now asks first thing upon waking to watch something. And she doesn't just say, "Watch sumting, Mommy." like Padyn used to. No, she gives you the whole list. It's like an ad for PBS.

Wanna wash Door Boos. When I tell her we aren't going to watch TV right now, she goes into her list...as if I just meant we aren't going to watch Dora. She's sure that something in the list will appeal to me and I'll change my mind. The order may change depending on the hour, but here are all the shows she tells me she wants to watch.

BooBoo Why (Super Why, which apparently she thinks she's a character in.)

Booz Cooz (Blues Clues-with this little sign...she taps the palm of her right hand with the finger tips of her left. I think she's writing in her notebook.)

Jorzh (Curious George)

Dagun Tays (Dragon Tales)

Kiff (Clifford the Big Red Dog)

and my personal favorite, because she says it with so much enthusiasm...
Baby I-sty! (Baby Einstein)

Not Much to Say

I really don't have much to write about today, but since I hadn't posted anything since Friday, I thought I better get something down. I'll try to recap some of the cutest that has oozed forth from my daughters over the past few days...

• On Saturday we headed over to Santa Cruz to attend a retreat that the non-profit I volunteer at (oh, and am on the board of) just for the day. Daddy was flying, so it was just me and the girls. The girls were the only blond people in attendance, which is unheard of in our normal circles. But, they loved dancing around to the music and entertaining everyone with their demonstrations of what frogs and baby jaguars say. (Don't ask about the baby jaguar...too much Dora and Diego). One little girl who was there with her parents is in love with Kate. At one point she told me, "She's so BEAUTIFUL! I can't stop looking at her!"
• That same night they refused to fall asleep on the way home. It was almost 10pm when they finally got in bed. And what time were they up? 6:45am. You know we took some serious naps on Sunday.
• Daddy made it home just after bathtime on Sunday night. The girls were SO excited to see him. Kate had been saying most of the weekend, "I wanna see Dadda." or "Hug kiss dadda." So, when she heard the garage door open, she went ballistic. I had to wrestle her into her diaper before I let her run downstairs. She didn't care that she was naked. She ran outside in the cold yelling, "Dadda! Dadda! Dadda!" There are worse ways to be welcomed home.
• Last night in the tub I was telling Padyn that we are going to see Coley and Jalyn this coming weekend. I thought she'd be pretty excited. But her first response was, "Don't we have to go on an airplane? I don't want to go on an airplane." When I told her we could bring Daddy's computer, her face lit up and she yelled, "We can watch Dora and Diego!" Then Kate joined in, chatted, 'Dora Boots! Dora Boots!" (Although, when she says it, it sounds more like Door Boos.)
• Padyn has been trying out new vocabulary lately. Tonight she told us that she didn't like something because it was "porn." WHAT?!?! Oh, wait. She meant boring. We didn't attempt to explain porn to her.
• Tonight we went out to dinner with Papa and BonBon. We were sitting in a booth, with Kate across from me between Daddy and BonBon. She kept pointing to everyone and naming them, then like was working on memorizing everyone...Dadda, Momma, Payee, Papa, BaBa, Tate! Then it would start again. Sometimes she'd mess up and she'd say the wrong name. And I swear, she must have gotten this from Padyn...she'd say, "No no no." and give the correct name or point to the correct person. Very cute.

I'm sure there is much much more, but these are the ones that jump to the forefront of my brain. Hope your weekend was full of joy.

Photo Friday-Limited Edition

I only have a few photos to show you today due to the fact that Daddy has had the camera for the last couple days. He has been trying to get photos of our Passat so we can get it sold. I don't think you are really interested in seeing our Passat wagon all sparkly shiny (although, I guarantee you've never seen it this clean before). Instead, here are a couple I took of the girls in the tub tonight.
Happy Friday.

Little Miss Sunshine

Padyn handed this drawing to me tonight on the way up to the bath.

I said something to the effect of, "Oh, how beautiful! I see the sun. What else is in the picture?"

Her reply..."This is for you to put in your purse, Mommy. Then, when you are sad, you can look at it and it will remind you of summer."

Great idea, Padyn. Great idea.

The Great Pretender

Today Kate pretended to be asleep...twice.

But she didn't close her eyes to pretend to be asleep. That's what you would expect, right? No. Instead, she snored.

First it was in the car on the way to playgroup. Padyn said that she was tired because Papa had woken her up early this morning. All of a sudden, I hear fake snoring from the back seat. I assumed it was Padyn fooling around and pretending she was napping because she was tired. But no. It was Kate. She was looking and Padyn and doing that "Honk SHHHHH...."

Later, we were in her room getting ready for nap. She ran over to Padyn's bed, climbed up and lay on the pillow. She curled up in a ball and, with her eyes open, started snoring.

It is the funniest thing in the world.

Photo Friday-errr, Sunday

Here are some of the top stories from the week...

First picture of 2008. Isn't she a beauty? Super Kate takes to the skies...ummm, family room... (She ran around saying, "BooBoo Tate!" which in her mind reads "Super Kate!") Rain equals crafttime. Kate thought the foam stickers were super yummy.
Super close-ups while eating bagels...
Well, that's all I've got for you at this time. Tune in next Friday for more exciting adventures of BooBoo Tate and her trusty sidekick, Princess Padyn!

Things You Never Think Will Come Out of Your Mouth #39

This didn't come out of my mouth. It came out of my friend, Deborah's, while I was on the phone with her. But, she was saying it to my daughter who was playing over at her house...

You can be the doctor, but not behind the TV. It isn't safe.

Love it.

Can't Do Much With No Power

Sorry about the lack of Photo Friday yesterday. I know I haven't posted pictures on Friday for the last 3 weeks and I really intended to get back on track yesterday. The other two weeks I have no excuse for except excessive laziness, but yesterday I have a terrific excuse.

My power was out. All day. Until the wee hours of this morning.

I know what some of you are thinking...but you have a laptop. With an extra battery.

Yes, yes. That's true. And technically, I should have been able to post pictures because I still have some in my camera. But, it's hard to use your laptop when it's locked in your house. A house you can not get into.

You see, since the power was out, I couldn't get the garage door open. And, due to a broken deadbolt lock, our front door is permanently looked with a hotel-type lock. I could have scaled the fence in the backyard, opened the back garage door with my key, pushed and climbed past the pile of junk blocking the door, and then gotten into the house, but with two sleepy kids in the car, it wasn't worth it. We went to BonBon's house.

We actually stayed the night there as at 10pm there was still no prediction of when our power would be back on. The girls loved it. Such an adventure.

You know the best part? Our street was the border of the power outage. The border. The next street over in our complex had power. Our pool had power. But our street? Nothing. The neighborhood behind us? Nothing.

We're back today. Joel thinks it went back on around 4am. (He figured this out with some complicated math and the oven clock.) The winds have died down, so we should be fine for now.

All that to say...Photo Sunday, people. Photo Sunday.

Playing Together (For A Few Minutes, Anyway...)

All the new toys, and this is what they want to play with. At least I had the camera ready.

I took these this morning. I was still eating my breakfast, so the girls had to find a way to entertain themselves. Usually this time of the morning is TV viewing time, but I'm trying to limit the number of television hours since got so many last week while everyone was sick. (Speaking of that time last week, did I tell you I almost went crazy staying home all day long for 3 days in a row? I don't think I can ever EVER do that again.)

Anyway, they found that they loved the laundry basket. Padyn called it the 'trap' and kept trying to make Kate go inside. Kate loved it, except for when Padyn sat on top of it and K could no longer crawl around. She was like a little hermit crab, crawling around trying not to bump into things. I think she enjoyed the game more than Padyn. You can see in one of the next pictures that Padyn has tired of the whole thing (probably because I yelled at her for sitting on top of it again and making Kate scream) and had moved onto the castle. Kate was still eager to enclose herself in the blue plastic and crawl around. She was almost giddy.

Hey, at least they played well together for a few minutes. I'll take all the peace they will give me.

All I Got for Christmas...

After a week of playing with all our new toys, there are a few that seem to have floated to the top of the "Best Things I Got for Christmas This Year" list. We'll go by person as to not confuse anyone...

Padyn and Kate's are shared (well, and when they received them, they were joint presents, so it only makes sense that they would BOTH like them.)

The Melissa and Doug Folding Princess Castle was a completely unplanned purchase. It was 4 days before Christmas and I was out on my last shopping trip. I was wanting something for the two of them, but couldn't quite figure out what to do. I randomly happened upon this in Nordstrom and knew it was the right thing. Padyn had been telling me she wanted Santa to bring her a princess castle. Of course, she was talking about a Disney Princess Castle, but since I refuse to purchase anything Disney Princess, this was a terrific option. They were out of the little figures that go with it, but the girls are quite content to play with it using the Little People figures and other random small animal toys.

We all love Olivia, but the new Olivia book is more Padyn's favorite than Kate's. Padyn asks for it every night, and in the mornings (and at quiet time) we can hear her reading it out loud to herself. She has all the inflections and words correct. If she wasn't waking me up, I'd think it was pretty cute.

Daddy's favorite new toy is the iNeed back massager from Brookstone. He could sit for hours on the couch letting it work on his back. I love it, too, but can't sit with it quite as long as he can.I was having trouble deciding on my "favorite" thing. I must say, I have been listening to my new David Crowder CD over and over again, so that must be somewhere near the top of my list.I usually buy most of my own Christmas presents each year (I'm sure there are NO other women that do this!) There are a few things I didn't get around to getting myself that I'm sure will be late Christmas presents. The following are the top two on my late list-boxing gloves and new running shoes. Not terribly exciting, but I will appreciate them. (Just so you know, the gloves are for my boxing class...not to hit Joel or the children with.)

Oh, I did get one other thing for Christmas that I'm pretty excited about. This...

I am not joking. This is my dad's 1982 Porsche 911. Now it gets to live at our house. I'm trying to figure out how to get the car seats in the two little seats in the back. Don't you think the girls would like to ride in it?

What are your new favorite toys?