A trip to the bank

Nina has been giving me (and her teacher at school) a lot of grief lately. I am hoping that catching up on her blog will be therapeutic for me. That and I wanted to have a full arsenal of blackmail just in case I ever need it.

So anyway. Yes. She did put this outfit together especially for our trip to the bank.

Our thief in the night

It's such a great feeling to walk downstairs after we've put the kids to bed. Matt and I usually enjoy a snack and a show or just sit and chat. It's just wonderful to sit together and relax. Then when we are good and tired, we head back upstairs and check on our babies. Our visit to Nina's room is more to assess the damage than to check on her. We usually find that she was busy after we kissed her goodnight. It could be a pile of books on her bed, lipstick on the mirror, several changes of clothes on the floor, hearts drawn on the wall in sharpie. Nothing surprises us. Not even when she gets into the pile of teacher and friend treats we put together for Christmas.


See the little bag to the left of her?



I'm pretty sure she had sweet dreams that night.

Jekyll and Hyde?

Nina had a very fun morning. She and Matt had a little daddy/daughter date at Evergreen Lake where they tried their luck ice fishing. Even though they only caught 1 fish, a neighboring fisherman gave them 2 of his fish to take home and eat. Nina LOVES to bring fish home to eat. Doesn't she look happy?






With a house full of boys, I find it strange that the lone girl is the one who watches with a freaky amount of interest as Matt fillets the fish. I heard her say, "Whoa, that squirted some blood on me." Not even phased.



And her life is perfect.




Until later that afternoon. Here is her mug shot:



She went on a little naughty binge with the scissors and some of my fabric remnants.




Cutting me some lovely hearts.



And then cutting holes in her pajama bottoms so that her "legs could get some air".



And with all that hard work, she naturally needed some refreshment





Just when I was thinking she was growing out of her naughty ways......

What did your daughter have for breakfast?

Because our little lovely thought that opening a packet of Dream Whip powder would start her day off nicely.

Nope.

I didn't even get into the food coloring.........except this little part on my thumb.

Innovator or mess maker?

The allegation is that there were stains on her carpet that she was trying to remove. Maybe she will be an inventor of a magical cleaning product. Or maybe this is all part of a plan to get that ugly carpet out of her room.



Either way, she continues to drive me crazy.

5 a.m. wake up call

It was actually Rex who woke me up. He was a little hungry after having slept for 10 or so hours. I get that boy fed and situated back in his bed when I notice some lights on. I follow the trail of lights and discover this:



So now we know that Nina can microwave her own popcorn. Even at 5 a.m.

Miss Preschool Graduate

We are so proud of Nina. What an accomplishment! The requirements to be a preschool graduate are quite demanding. First she had to find a sponsor willing to shell out a lovely load of money every month. Matt and I decided we would do that for her. Second, she had to get dropped off and picked up no more than 3 times a week. I offered to do this, although Rachelle ended up taking a large share of this responsibility. And third. I'm pretty sure she just needed to show up to the graduation night last week. We were able to make that happen as well.






Nina really enjoyed preschool this year. Her favorite things were art, snack and going outside to play. I found it very interesting that she was put in time out only 1 time. At the very beginning of the school year. For talking too much during circle time. She seemed to learn to follow the rules right away. I can't think of a day at home where she hasn't been in time out at least one time. Usually for stealing something, drawing on something, hurting someone or lying about something. These lessons at home are seeming to take a little longer to stick.

Loving every phase

People always tell us to enjoy our kids while they are little because before we know it they will be grown. We have been taking that advice to heart. We are soaking up all the phases kids go through. In fact, we consider ourselves blessed that some of these wonderful childhood phases last a little longer in our family than in other families. Take potty training for instance. I'm sure there are so many parents out there that are literally crying at night because their kids no longer need their "accidents" cleaned up and they don't get to pile their shopping carts with diapers and wipes every month.
And this phase:



It occurred to me that you might not be able to tell that this is marker on the wall behind one of the couches.

It also occurred to me that you might not have heard that 3 days ago someone took a sharpie to the passenger-side of the car.

On the wall she wrote Kapten Rex.

On the car she wrote BYU.

I'm so glad we get to enjoy this phase longer than most parents.




And I'm also glad that we still get to see her like this sometimes too.

It was 9 o'clock

and I knew where all our kids were. I just didn't know what they were all doing.

Correction, I just didn't know what Nina was doing.

She was just trying on a new shade of lipstick. No big deal.

What a creation

That's sometimes what I think about Nina. But let's stay on topic here. Nina has been digressing in some areas and we have been brought to our knees. Thus the reimplementation of a "rewards system". I am happy to report that Nina achieved her goal and we celebrated. In this case, the term "celebration" is the in eye of the beholder. If someone gave me this heap of a mess as a celebration, I would never ever want to celebrate anything ever again. But Nina is happy and maybe she'll start thinking about improving. Maybe.

A clean thing of beauty

Ever since Lexi passed along this piece of comfort, Nina can be found lounging in it most mornings.

Tea Party question

Are tea parties supposed to involve shredded cheese, water and smashed up grapes all mixed together in a creation of nastiness?




Because I'm pretty sure these two lied to me. I expect this from Nina, but Cambri? I'm thoroughly disappointed.

Heaven Sent

There have been times when I think Nina's special qualities are too much for me to handle. She is oozing with creativity, spunk, love, curiosity and emotion. The way those traits sometimes manifest themselves makes me shake my head. And take a picture. And issue threats. And eat chocolate. So it has made me feel grateful that an absolute gem has entered our lives. There have been countless times where Patty has shown up when I'm at my end and whisked Nina away for a day of fun. She showers Nina with love, attention, treats, conversation, hugs, sparkly things and time with her dogs. Nina loves Patty, and has said, "Mom, I think you're the best, but Sister Lillmars is my favorite." She is my favorite too! She has been a lifesaver for Nina and for me.

A new hiding spot revealed

All of Nina's secret hiding spots are generally used for consuming various forms of sugar or cutting things into ultra-fine pieces. All but one. This special spot is used for disposing of portions of Nina's meal. The use of this space gives the illusion of her eating all of her food and qualifying her for dismissal and perhaps a future treat. Clever girl. As you can see, I was duped several times this week.



This is a cozy little nook located between the base of the table and the table top. It looks like it was made for stashing unwanted food.

Some fashionable photos

I hope I can relinquish any desires to control Nina's wardrobe when she starts kindergarten in the fall. It seems a little closer since I just registered her a couple of weeks ago. She's still pretty particular about what she will and won't wear so it could be interesting. Here are two fun choices.

Sparkly dress, high heels and two guns all compliment each other so well.


Yes those are pajamas that she is wearing to a basketball game. She was pretty sure "no one will suspect it".

The Opportunist Strikes Again

I had just turned on the water to take a shower when I hear the chair in the kitchen being moved across the floor. I went ahead and hopped in the shower anyway figuring I would just clean up whatever mess she made when I was done. Those windows for a shower are so tiny these days. When I came downstairs to assess the damage, I found these:


And they weren't neatly lined on the counter. They were hiding in a spot she uses to carry out her naughty deeds. The reason for the big fork is quite simple. This was a new bottle of syrup that still had the top sealed. She cleverly found a way to puncture the seal so she could fill her plate with syrup, then promptly lap it up.



It's such a bummer to have your plans foiled.