Pink Hair

Kate is pretty good recognizing most of her colors and like most 2 year old girls, has a special affinity for pink. Recently, when she was asked, 'What color is your hair?' she answered pink. I thought this was pretty funny. However, over the last month I have realized that she will also consistently tell you that Mack, Andrew, and Cinderella have pink hair. She says that Natali and I have brown hair. So it appears that Kate thinks blonds have pink hair - lucky for them.

My Favorite Reads from 2009

In the back of my journal I keep a log of all the books I read each year. This year I even rated each book to help me remember how much I liked them. I was killing time the other night and was going over my reading lists from the last few years. Each title reminded me of my circumstances while reading that book and the different things I learned. I love books. I love the way they look on bookshelves. I love the way it feels when you see how far you have progressed through a 600 page book. I love getting wrapped up in a good story or being amazed at the skill of writers who can make economics fascinating. I love watching my Natali stay up way too late reading Harry Potter because she just can't wait to find out what happens. I love learning about places and people far away. I can go on and on but instead I will just post my favorite reads of 2009.

The Book Thief - Juvenile Fiction about a girl living in Germany during WW2 and how books influenced her life. Captivating. Wonderful insight into the power of words.

Screwtape Letters- A fictional account of how devils tempt their assigned people. C. S. Lewis is amazing. This was a quick reread for me filled with reminders of how I can be more aware of Satan's attempts on me.

Long Walk to Freedom - The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela. Very long and slow at parts but considering 27 years of his life were spent in jail it was fascinating. His self mastery and commitment were inspiring.

Outliers - Non-Fiction. A statistical study showing patterns in the lives of people that succeed. Sounds boring, but if you haven't read anything by Gladwell give it a try. You'll be surprised at how interesting numbers can be.

Other good reads from the year: David Copperfield, The House At Sugar Beach, Hot, Flat and Crowded, A Room with A View, Confessions of an Economic Hitman

The Boy and His Hat

If any of you have seen Mack lately you may have noticed the permanent new addition to his wardrobe. I knitted this hat in high school. It was an experiment that didn't turn out well because is was too big for mostly everybody. When we pulled out the winter clothes this year Mack's old hat had disappeared and he claimed this one as the replacement. I figured it wouldn't last long because it really is huge. Not only does he wear this hat whenever he goes outside but he wears it all the time - seriously - he even wears it to bed. I hope his teacher makes him take it off in the class room, but other than that possibility he only takes it off when he prays, bathes, and goes to church. Who would have guessed that he would love it so.

Adventures with the 'Family' Photo

My kind cousin-in-law has taken our pictures every year since we moved to Idaho. She is wonderful with the kids and does a fabulous job. But this year I was a little slow to schedule so I agreed to one of the last warmish days left that she had available. When I finally let Greg know when we were doing the pictures he told me he would be out of town. So we decided to just do kid pictures - they're the ones everyone wants to see anyway - right? The plan and would have worked great but Kate got sick the week before the pictures and was still in that less-than-pleasant mood. I had to force her outfit on (a pink dress I assumed she would love, but she still refuses to wear it) and stand in every picture with her or she would just walk away screaming. Even the candy didn't really help (at least it stopped the screaming). But we have some fabulous pictures of the three oldest kids. So much for the 'family' photo this year.

This is the only picture we have of all four kids without me in it - and Kate was trying to exit as quickly as possible.This face is almost happy thanks to M & M's.

Some of you might not have seen Natali in her new specs. She got the glasses the day before the pictures. She was so excited to get glasses that for a while I was worried she would fake her test just to get them, but I sat in on her exam and I'm pretty sure she needs them. I let her pick out the frames - she did pretty good huh?

Now just to contrast Kate, all of Mack's pictures look like he is straight out of an Old Navy ad.
Andrew loves cheese and you can't help but smile back.

Cristi managed to steal this brief smile at the very end of our photo shoot. But don't be deceived into thinking Kate was actually smiling of her own accord - I was holding her while I hid behind a tree and tickled her.

I am so blessed to have these crazy kids.

Pirates have green teeth - when they have any teeth at all!

Every year before Halloween the elementary school has their Halloween Parade. All the kids dress up and walk around the school showing each other their costumes. It is such a fun tradition and parents are invited to come watch. Well this year when Mack's teacher saw me she said, "Mack is really taking this pirate thing seriously." Then pirate Mack smiled to reveal a missing tooth. He was just beaming. Then when Natali walked by she freaked out telling me Mack lost his first tooth...I love that she was so excited for him.

Anyway, for the rest of the day he called anyone he could think of to tell them about his tooth. He felt like he had something stuck in his tooth and basically just pulled the tooth out thinking it was a popcorn kernel.
The best part about losing your tooth at school is the fancy necklace you get to put it in!

Happy Halloween

Halloween night the Eastons and Wilfords joined the hoards of kids cruising around our neighborhood. It didn't take long to come to a few conclusions 1- next year we are dividing into groups according to age. Then the kids that want to run door to door can do so without the trail of kids and parents crying behind them to wait up. 2- Review etiquette beyond just saying 'trick or treat' and 'thank you'. Be more specific like telling Andrew it is rude to scream "GIMME SOME" and don't ever say things like "What? Only one?".

After a few streets Val and I started home with Kate and Luke. We were still knocking on doors then I asked Kate what she wanted to do. Her simple answer, "Go home and eat it!". Overwhelmed with her quantity of candy she was happy to sit at home and feast. And she did! I think she ate more than half her candy that night. Natali was so disappointed that Kate chose to be Cinderella again, rather than the pink fairy Natali was when she was two. But Kate was determined to wear her "blue rella" dress and she loved wearing real lipstick.

Natali thought it was great being a witch. I liked that she wore the same witch costume all my sisters and I used as kids. However, the orange wig is a new addition from Aunt Val. Natali got lots of comments about her cool hair, but she removed it by the end of the night because she was too hot (such and nice night). You can't tell from this picture but I really think her favorite part was wearing all the make up she could find.

Mack really loved his mustache - who wouldn't.

Somehow we have no individual photo of Andrew. He was a T-Rex, which he made clear to anyone who mistakenly called him a dragon. Since all the other kids had make-up on he couldn't be left out so he had a speckling of dots on his face and he was happy. He really got into character; at every door he screamed "TRICK OR TREAT". You could hear it from across the street. Gotta love Halloween.

Katers says...

My favorite Kate quotes:

Whenever I give Kate a no answer her reply is "Later?". This cracks me up but got even funnier Tuesday when she handed me a DVD as I was picking her up for bed. I said no and was expecting to hear "Later?"but was surprised to hear "Friday?".

The other day Kate was frustrated with Andrew and suddenly yelled, "No, Anrew Reed!". She had never used his middle name before. Andrew and I looked at each other and just started laughing. He kept asking how she knew - she doesn't miss much.

We have been talking a lot about how mommy has a baby in her tummy but lately if you ask Kate, "Who has a baby in their tummy?" she will respond, "me".