Why I am nervous for the new baby:

Project Time

Stuffed animals have taken over my home. It doesn't matter how many times a day they get put away, they always escape again. My friend has this zookeeper thing that I've been coveting for while, but I didn't want to shell out that much dough. So I decided to make one. I've never really done anything like this before, but the design looked pretty simple, so why not?

First, I drew up my plans. Then the whole fam went to Lowe's with me. Every time I asked one of the employees a question, they would ask Mike follow up questions, or just turn to him and give him the answer. He finally told the guy, "I don't know, this is her project." After pricing out PVC pipe vs. wood, wood looked cheaper. Being the lazy novice I am, I just used pre-primed composite molding :).

The weather has been springish (finally!) around here, so I opened up the garage and set up the table saw. As I was sawing and drilling, a neighbor approached me with his son asking for donations for the March of Dimes. He asked what I was doing, and I explained. Then he looked at me with obvious skepticism and asked,

"Why don't you just have your husband build it for you?"

I was very tempted to tell him that I don't let my husband use my tools, but my lack of expertise was a bit too apparent. Yes, I'm sure Mike would do a great job making the zoo, but I WANTED TO DO IT! Of course all of this happened after I had given him all my spare change. Anyway, here are the pics, and thank you to Mike and Kate for helping me!

Also has great potential as a "Time Out Corner"!

Hey, there's extra room up top! Looks like I need to get some more stuffed animals...

Ummmmm.

I walked into the living room, and this is what I saw:

Kate, delivering a stuffed hippo that was shoved up her shirt, and Faith, acting as nurse, telling her to push.

Random thoughts

The girls have some wooden 2D dolls that have magnetic outfits, kind of like paper dolls but way cooler. I was helping Kate put them away the other day, when I found that one of three dolls was missing. I asked Kate if she knew where it was, and she got shifty eyes and said,

"Umm, I don't want to tell you..."

I saw her glance nervously towards the backyard.

"Is she outside?" I asked.

"Umm, yes. I buried her."

?!?!?!

"Why did you do that??"

She said, "Well, we were pretending she died, so we buried her."

Are all 4 year olds so morbid? As I type this, she is telling Faith that all her fairies have died. Hmmmm.

Faith is talking more and more every day, and she is always making me laugh. She likes to narrate every thing she does/feels, much like the guy from Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. Examples:

"Heee hee heee, Laughing! Heee hee ehheee!"
"Waaa waaaaa ahhhh, Crying, waaaaaaaaahhh"
[deep breaths] "Calm down."
[now calm] "Feel better."
[outside playing] "HAPPY!"
[gets handed a bowl of ice cream] "Excited!!!"
[as she's falling down] "Fall down!... I'm Otay!"
[storms away with hands on hips] "Angry!" or "Grumpy!"

I'm glad my child is so in touch with her feelings. With my tutelage, she will soon learn to suppress them along with the rest of society.


As we were dancing the other morning - and yes, most mornings begin with a dance party - Kate suddenly said, "Now, let's dance like girls."I wasn't sure what that meant, then she started doing "ballet". I guess I dance like a guy.

Kate has always been curious, but lately her questions have gotten a lot deeper and more complex. Here are some of her most recent ones:

How did God come alive?

Where do He and Jesus get their power?

Why doesn't Jesus tell anyone when he's coming?

If Satan starts making good choices, will he get a body?

Why did Heavenly Father make dangerous animals?

If people are in a battle, how do they sleep without the bad guys getting them?

Are all mountains volcanoes?

It makes me very thankful that there are answers, and that even a 4 year old can understand (most of) them. :)

Easter

We did an Easter egg hunt at Grandma's house.

I think my most favorite thing about this Easter was the Easter Bunny. Uncle Kevin dressed up as the Easter Bunny for a hunt in my parents' neighborhood. Kate, Faith and Anberlin all went, and they saw Kevin put on the costume. He did the same thing last year, but this year, none of his nieces ran away screaming! Way to not be so scary, Kevin!

Fast forward to Easter morning. The girls come downstairs to find their first ever Easter baskets. I told them it looked like the Easter Bunny had come to visit last night. Kate was overjoyed yet baffled.

"How did Uncle Kevin get into our house???"

and later,

"How did Uncle Kevin know my favorite color is pink?!"

There is no way I'm going to straighten her out on this one. She believes with all of her heart that Kevin is the Easter Bunny, and I think it's pretty darn funny :)

Happy Easter!

As I was changing the sheets on the girls' beds upstairs today, I could hear Kate and Faith playing happily downstairs. I smiled to myself, grateful that they play together so well. Or so I thought. When I came down, Kate asked if Faith was up there with me. Huh.
So Kate had been happily playing alone. Suspicious. We both knew where to look for Faith. Kate beat me to my bathroom, and returned holding a bottle of fake-tan lotion.

"Mommy, Faith was putting this all over her forehead." Kate has inherited my tattling skills.

I went into the bathroom, and sure enough, there was my little bronzed beauty looking freshly oiled. Not only had she applied the lotion liberally to her forehead, but she also had it on her cheeks, in her hair, and on the carpet. I suppressed an urge to giggle, and asked in my best mom voice, "Faith! Why would you do this??" (yes, I keep asking this stupid, stupid question)

"I sorry, Mommy" said Faith in her best pitiful voice. I debated whether I should go find the camera, and decided it would be best to get the stuff off of her before it got too dark. I think I did a pretty decent job on her face, but a not-so-decent job on her hair. I forgot her eyebrows completely. It's been a few hours, and it looks like I will finally get the red head I've always wanted :)