Snow Day!

Confessions of a Capricious Stepmother

Kate's imagination has really taken off. Her two favorite make believe scenarios are

1. There is a family of alligators visiting (mom, dad & baby). Kate shows them around the house and instructs them on using the amenities (how to use the toilet, where to get food, what clothes of mine they can wear, etc). She did this for 2 solid hours the other day.

2. We play Cinderella. The odd thing is, Kate never wants to be Cinderella. She is most often the mean stepmother. I assumed that this was because she likes ordering me (Cinderella) around. However, I've found Kate to be quite the pushover. Every time she tells me I can't go to the ball because I don't have a gown, and I start crying, she magnanimously offers to help me make a gown. Her justification? "Sometimes I'm mean, sometimes I'm nice."

We were deep into scenario two yesterday with me as Cinderella and Kate as the Prince (second favorite role). As we were dancing, Kate suggests we should get married. Then, in her deepest, most princely voice, she says, "Come on Cinderella, let's smooch." I about died laughing, all the while she was trying to smooch me.

I'm not sure what to make of it. Should I be worried? I have her convinced that if you kiss someone, that means you are getting married. I was pretty pleased with her easy acceptance of it, and assumed I wouldn't have to worry about her chasing boys at school, but what boy could ever resist the invitation, "Come on, let's smooch" ?

I fear I have neglected Faith in my bloggings. Poor second child. She is such a sweetheart and also quite funny. Her new favorite thing to do is run up to people and say "Bah!" (boo!). I don't know about everyone else, but she gets me every time! She is an excellent eater. In fact, her doctor congratulated me on the fact that both my kids are the chunkiest they've ever been, and told me to keep up the good work!
Yesterday I babysat a little girl Faith's age while Kate was at preschool. Faith was ecstatic to have a person her size around, with no one else to steal her attention. So, like her sister, Faith decided to show her everything in the house. The poor kid just sat there bewildered as Faith introduced her to every piece of laundry I folded. It was pretty funny. Then she started doing this thing that Kate does to make Faith laugh: She runs into things while yelling and falls down. So Faith was now doing this to make the other baby laugh, and I couldn't help but be amazed at how much Faith takes in and how well she mimicks Kate. I love watching her follow Kate around, and I hope so much that they will be best friends.

Never leave your children unattended

This is one of the reasons I blog so infrequently. Though Kate is obviously trying to be helpful here, I have no idea where she got this food from.

I know, this is pretty mild and I shouldn't complain. So far these two haven't done anything devastating (though I emerged from the bathroom today to find dirty steak knives from the dishwasher all over the floor, courtesy of Faith). But there are some habits I would like to break quickly. For instance, Kate has the bad habit of forgetting to flush after she tinkles. And Faith has the bad habit of sneaking into the bathroom and eating whatever she finds in the toilet. It's a dangerous combination.

Wasteland? I think you mean Wonderland!

Mike and I went up to McCall for a couple of days to celebrate our 5 year anniversary! We had a lot of fun, and it was so beautiful. You'd think all the white would be boring, but you would be wrong. It's delightsome!

Little Miss Sassy

Kate is developing a bit of an attitude. Right now it's really funny, but I'm afraid it could become a very dark gift. The following are conversations that occurred today:

Me: Ok Kate, you can either take a nap or have quiet time in your room .(I start to exit her bedroom)

Kate: I'm NOT going to close my eyes! And I'm NOT going to have quiet time!! I'll talk and talk and talk!

I had to leave pretty quickly so she wouldn't see me laughing, and as I shut the door, sure enough, she was babbling loudly in defiance.

Later, on the stairs... (can't remember the provocation)

Kate: Humf! (folds arms) I'm so annored!

Me: Huh?

Kate: I'm very very annored!!

Me: Do you mean annoyed?

Kate: Yeah! Annoyed!


Let the girl drama begin.

Halloween

Better late than never, right?

We hit the Haunted Forest one evening, and as you can see, it was positively chilling. Actually, I found it a bit odd that no one ever tried to scare me. The other two girls in our group were the targets, every time. I'm guessing word has already spread that I am a Muay Thai Grand Master of the 37th Order.

We had a great time at a pumpkin patch with some great friends!

Kate is about to self combust with excitement.

We took a hay ride out to the big ole pumpkin patch.

Kate and Elsa love each other lots.

DISNEY ON ICE!!

My awesome friend Kelsey hooked us up with some tickets to Disney on Ice last night, so Kate and I went. When I told her it would be just the two of us, she asked with concern, "But where is Faith going to live?"
We talked about what characters we might see there, and when I mentioned the Little Mermaid, Kate insisted on taking her Little Mermaid panties. No, not wearing them. She wanted to bring them, so the Little Mermaid could watch too. I suggested she at least put them in a bag, and handed her a Tinker Bell bag. She came back downstairs with the bag packed. The contents? Little Mermaid panties, another pair of generic panties, chap stick, and 2 sets of leg warmers. That's my girl.
When the show started, Mickey and Minnie were the first ones out. Kate waved to Minnie for a full 3 minutes. We had purchased some nachos, simply because I had $6.50 burning a hole in my pocket. Kate had a nacho about 3/4 of the way to her mouth when the Princesses came out on the ice. The nacho was frozen in place, her mouth still hanging open. The nacho only finally moved when the now human Beast whipped Belle up into an amazing lift, and Kate began to clap ecstatically (nacho still in hand), flinging cheese sauce all over. She resumed eating at the intermission.
I wish I could have watched Kate's face during the performance, but she was on my lap the whole time. (she is still not quite heavy enough to hold down the seat on those flip up chairs) But I'm quite certain she enjoyed it. Thanks Kelsey!