Ugh. So much for a kind gesture

Well, I have put together our boxes going to Iraq and Katie was able to pick out, well, squat to put in the box. She is apparently emotionally attached to every toy in her toybox. When I tried to push the issue, she decided she could give up toys if she was getting a new and improved version of that toy. I told her that was definitely not going to happen. I then waited for her to go to bed and volunteered a few stuffed animals that I know she doesn't play with to jump in the box. Where there's a will, there's a way.

Houston we have a problem

I was taking Katie to a sleepover last night and remembered that I had forgotton to pack her toothbrush. I mentioned it to her and said, "I'm a bad Mommy". She immediately piped up and said "No, you're not! You're a good mommy. You give me everything I want, you're the Best Mommy!" I was mid-"Awww" when she mentioned the you give me everything logic. Yikes!

Katie's Care package

Thanks to johniniraq.blogspot.com (linked below), Katie and I are putting together a box for an Iraqi village. The people there have no running water, electricity, money for gas, etc. The children don't have much either. I told Katie about these Iraqi children and how they didn't have any toys, coloring books, etc. I asked her to go through her toy box and pick out a few toys to send to them.

When I left this morning I heard her little voice explaining to her nanny, "These Iraqi children don't have any toys!" I'll have to update you all on what she decided to give them. That should be interesting!

An Oldie but a Goodie

For those of you that are just getting to know Katie, I thought I'd tell my favorite story. It still makes me giggle, so hopefully even those who have heard it before will appreciate it. We ordered food from the Chinese/Japanese/Thai place near us one night. She got her normal sweet and sour chicken and I got my sushi. I always ordered one piece of Tobikko (flying fish eggs). She looked at the fish eggs and asked if she could taste them. Without telling her what they were, I gave her a taste. She asked for some on "her plate". I gave her some and she continued to eat them. Then she finally asked the question:

Katie: What are these?
Me: Fish eggs.
Katie: Fish eggs? Pause... What would they be?
Me (assuming she meant if they hatched): Well, if you left them in the water, I guess they'd be fish. (As my husband says, I have a great eye for the obvious.)

I am now watching my child process this information and study the fish eggs. I'm waiting for her to make the connection between them and Nemo since they are the same color. Then I see her pick up her fork and put more on it. She leans over the fish eggs, puts her hand up like she's trying to comfort them and says, "Don't worry, you'll be with your family soon!"

Such compassion.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Okay, that worked, now check out the photo album on the bottom right. Keeping up Dad?

New Template

Couldn't fix the sidebar problem, so changed to another template. Sorry Dad. I'll be working on the text color since I can barely see it myself. Libby, if you're out there, let me know what you think!

Bug in program?

My sidebar is not working so my profile and links are not showing right now. I have a message into the blogspot crew, so hopefully it will be remedied soon. I have a couple links that I really want to share with everyone. It's amazing how many truly interesting bloggers are out there.

Edited to add: My new friend Libby has informed me (as you've seen if you've read the comments on this post) that my sidebar is indeed there, just hiding at the very bottom of the blog. Hopefully I'll be able to get that fixed, but in the meantime, I've linked some blogs to my website, so please feel free to take a look.

We went to the zoo today with Donna & AJ. I couldn't resist taking a picture of the green bear. :) The zoo put in a mini water park which you can see is a big hit with AJ and Katie. AJ is a little crazy man in the water. I had to add the picture of Katie with her rainbow push-up face for Mom, I know she'll enjoy that.

A Little Background

It dawned on me that those of you that may find this blog inadvertently and don't really know me might wonder why the vague or infrequent references to "daddy". My husband and I are together, but he is off doing his part for freedom and democracy. He is not in what is typically called the sandbox among military families, but he is still making a difference in the area he is located in. We are very proud of him but want him to come home, he's been gone a long time.

He should be home by Thanksgiving, so we are looking forward to Holidays together this year. When daddy is not off "catching bad guys" as Katie likes to put it, he is running into burning buildings with the rest of the guys at his firehouse.

There's the background in a nutshell.

Okay, first original post on the blog! I didn't want to waste everything I had done on Yahoo 360*, so I copied some of the posts over. Hopefully more people will be able to see this now, not just Yahoo members.

It might not be very riveting, but it will keep those who are interested up to date on the craziness that is Katie.

Entry for August 17, 2005 - from Yahoo 360*
Okay. New and interesting problem. It seems that some bees have been able to infiltrate the screen in the "cat's" bedroom and have made a hive between the screen and inside window. Great.
Katie asked me last night if I knew how to get rid of a beehive. I told her that I was having someone come over on Friday to do that. She thanked me. I don't know why she wants the beehive gone, Cynthia probably won't set foot upstairs to give her a bath until they come and take it out! I think she's more afraid of it than Katie.

Entry for August 14, 2005 - from Yahoo 360*

We have sandbox!!! Played in between the raindrops today. Now I just have to figure out how to get more sand off of her before she enters the house. I will put all the sandbox photos in a photo album so that you can see them!

Entry for August 13, 2005 - from Yahoo 360*

We went out to breakfast with everyone for Honey's birthday today and then Katie and I went to see Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I'm not sure how much she liked it. I know that there were two parts that she didn't like. She has now crashed - she's trying to get some sleep so she'll be ready for our sleepover tonight. Maybe I should take a nap too.

Entries for August 10, 2005

The second picture (yeah, I put them in the wrong order) is someone discovering what cream puffs are made of.

The first picture is after eating some of the whipped cream. At one point she was eating it with two hands. Wish Mom could have been there!!!

Entry for August 09, 2005 - from Yahoo 360*
The state fair was alot of fun. Katie got to pet a cow and a calf. We bought a bubble gun that is pretty cool and Katie ate all the whip cream out of my cream puff with her hands. I, of course, forgot to bring my camera, but Papa had his so I should be posting pictures soon. Especially if there is a good one of cream puff girl!

Entry for August 08, 2005 - from Yahoo 360*
13 hours until State fair time! Have to remember to bring my camera!

Entry for August 06, 2005

Here's my little flapper. The boa has turned into a whip for reindeer. Guess who the reindeer is?More later if I survive.

Entry for August 05, 2005 - from Yahoo 360*
Okay, my hair is much shorter now! I'll have to post a picture later. Katie, of course, does not like it. I figured as much.

Entry for August 04, 2005 - Yahoo 360*
And by the way, what is up with the squirt showing up in my bedroom at 5 am each morning claiming she's scared and needs to sleep with me? She's smart, she's doing this when I'm too tired to argue with her. And this morning she brought her whole menagerie with her!

Entry for August 04, 2005 - from Yahoo 360*
Katie told me last night that after the next couple of Cynthia days, she wants a Mommy Play Day. Guess that means we're at home Saturday in play mode! :) If I can find someone to help me move sand, I might convince her that we should go out and get sand for her new sandbox.
I'm getting my hair cut tonight - short! If I'm allowed, after all, it's not my hair - I just lease it. If you know my hairdresser, you understand.

Entry for August 03, 2005 - from Yahoo 360*
Katie's sandbox is coming on Friday!!! Now I just have to get some sand, kill some weeds, find her sandbox toys....

Entry for August 02, 2005 - Yahoo 360*
Well, we never made it to the movie tonight. We walked around the lake and then headed over to Navy Pier. We took a 1/2 hour boat tour, got some ice cream and went on the Farris wheel. Katie had a good time. We didn't get home until about 10:45 pm. I couldn't believe that she stayed awake for the entire ride home. We also saw some creepy big spiders at Navy Pier. Yucko.

Entry for August 01, 2005 - Yahoo 360*
Katie spent the day playing with her new toys. We started working with her alphabet stamps tonight but she conked out because she hadn't really taken a nap. She fell asleep on my lap. Tomorrow she's coming downtown and we're going to go see E.T. in Grant Park. That should be interesting. I have to be at the office by 6:45 am - I may sleep through the movie.

Entry for July 31, 2005 - from Yahoo 360*
Katie's birthday was fun. She got a ton of gifts, all great. She got a scooter and a pair of skates. She picked up skating on carpet rather quickly and immediately was off and running on her scooter (also on the carpet). She's going to have to be talked into wearing her helmet and, knowing how stubborn my child is, she may never be off the carpet with either item. She loves the pirate ship that Daddy sent her (we won't discuss how my daddy and I feel about it - I also won't mention to him how she decided to take it apart ). My house looks like the day after Christmas, hopefully it won't take me as long to get it back in shape!