Lawn Mower

As promised here are more pictures of the grass. There really isn't a lot of grass. Katie was SO excited. She was a little taken back when he turned it on. But after a little bit needed to be right in the action. Now when he mows, they have to go around 2 or three times so Katie can push it. Yes, she can push it all by herself for a little ways. The funniest part is the conversation we have several times a day about the lawnmower. It's usually the first thing we talk about when she gets up now and then whenever she sees it on the patio. This is how it usually goes:

K- is it on?
M- no it's off
K- it's daddys
M- yes it's daddys
K- it's a lawnmower (or mower)
M- yes it's a lawnmower
K- it's big
M- yes it's big
K- it's black
M- yes it's black
K- it's a push
M- yes we push it
K- it's heavy (with emphasis)
M- yes it's heavy

Naming of the Noodles

Everything is either a baby, mommy or daddy. She pulled the silverware out of the drawer one day. When she got to the serving spoon she looked at it for a second and said "it's daddys" and "it's papas" because it was the biggest one she had ever used. Everything small is, of course, a baby. She does this with everything lately. Well, tonight at dinner we had ziti. She started by saying this is the baby, then the daddy, and then the mommy noodle before she ate each one. And then she started giving them names of anyone she knew (cousins, friends, froggie). It was really funny. She was so matter of fact about it, I had a hard time not laughing.

Grass

We have grass! This was my Christmas present. It started out as rocks. Katie would want to go outside and then end up eating the rocks. The process started last fall, but the grass came during Christmas break. Thank you to everyone who made it possible.
We had some great help...

... and some Katie help.


Finally, time for the sprinklers.


And the curbing.


Here is a small piece of the beautiful green grass. More pictures to come in the lawnmower post. :)
That is Katie's microphone that we each get to sing with when we play outside. She loves being outside. It's great to have a place for her to play.

Idaho Trip

Katie and I got to go to Idaho to visit family. Unfortunately, Kimball had school and couldn't come. The highlight of the trip was, well besides grandma and grandpa, the snow. She still isn't sure what to think of it. But she had a great time on the sled with Papa. The have attached a rope to the sled so it's easy to pull the little kids around the yard.

She was investigating the snowman and realized her hand was cold and wet.


My parents have also acquired a few sets of cross country skis over the years. It's been a long time but I made it around without falling. The snowshoes on the other hand I wasn't so lucky. It turns out the polls really are important. My brother is behind me ready to catch me if I fall or run over me one of the two.

The Children's Museum

My sister came for a visit right before Thanksgiving and we met them at the Phoenix Children's Museum. It was so much fun. There was a little something for everyone of all ages. Katie's favorites were the "Noodle Forest" and the restaurant cooking area.

This is the noodle forest. We had to hurry and take the picture because she would turn around and run back in the second she got out. Sometimes you just had to listen for the squeal of delight to figure out where she was.

This was her favorite place. They had another one that was more her size but we didn't find it until later. In this area they also have a brick oven to make pizzas. All of the ingredients were scraps of fabric. She was just content to stir her bowls and put things in the fridge.


My cousin Tyler was there with his family as well. This is his daughter and Katie's cousin Halle.

Playing

Here are some pictures of her playtimes recently. Here she is playing with her frogs. It was so cute because she was talking to them and she even traded crayons with them.


We have no idea what she is doing except that she kept doing it. She was walking around with this bucket on her head and luckily she never crashed into or off of anything.


We were putting up sheers in her room and while I was holding the rod with the sheer on it she put it over her head and ran into the other room. We found another sheer for her to play with. She loves to lay on it, wrap it around her neck, and put it over her head.


Katie loves her daddy. He teaches her all sorts of things (all good). When they play in her room I hear all sorts of laughing, singing, and random conversations.

The Halloween Owl

Katie was an owl for Halloween this year. She LOVES owls. I was a little nervous that she wouldn't wear the feathers, but she had no problems when it came time. We had a Halloween dinner with the cousins and then went trick or treating. She definitely had a good time.

Here she is after trick or treating looking just a little tipsy. She insisted on walking most of the time.

Here are the rest of the trick or treaters. She and Kaylee are the same age. They were so cute with their tutus and white hats. Kaylee is the Water Fairy from Tinker Bell.