Now this is a bit much....

Uncle D usually never lets us kiddies down at Christmas. We keep telling them to tame it down and keep it small. His latest gift is anything but small. We blew this puppy up today and it is pretty sweet. Mom and Dad can even get in with us. Zach is terrified of it, of course. He'll warm up to it in due time. It can even go outside on a rare, not-so-windy day here. In the meantime, it can have an occasional home in the basement.

Time to go jump. Mom hopes I sleep well tonight!

That's a Wrap

Is it just me, or does Christmas just seem to come and go faster and faster each year? I mean, I know I've only had 6 of them so far, but I'm just saying...

My tears over Buddy were quickly dried up when I came down the stairs Christmas Morning and saw that Santa had came. I had fun opening my gifts and helping Zach with his. After a late breakfast, we headed up to Grandma D's. It was nice to see all my family there and eat some more food. We came back that night and Z and I both fell asleep in the car.

Today we busted out Mom's new Wii and I played a little bowling. I've got a mountain of gifts in the basement, but we're trying to open them only one-a-day to keep things under control. It is amazing how every year the presents seem to multiply and we somehow find room for them.

Not much else new to share, I'm afraid. I think we're laying low this weekend -- actually the next week! HERE are some pics from yesterday.

Hope you had a special Holiday.
Katherine

Tears of an Elf

I had a very nice, quiet Christmas Eve home with my family. Mom and I decorated Christmas cookies this afternoon. Mom made prime rib for dinner and we had shrimp cocktail -- my favorite! After dinner, we watched the Polar Express and put some cookies out for Santa. I had a VERY hard time saying goodbye to Buddy. We're guessing Santa is going to take him home to the North Pole tonight. Mom and I were both crying pretty bad. I was so upset, I had to sleep with Buddy and Dad promised to get him down to the fireplace before midnight, after I fell asleep. We'll sure miss the little imp a lot, but I bet his family misses him more than I do. Did I tell you he peed green in the bathroom this morning? Gross! What a strange little elf!

Zach is cookie obsessed. He knows where they are and whines for them constantly. He's quiet a fan of anything cookie-related. We're rationing him, but it's hard with it being Christmas and all.

After lunch tomorrow, we're off to Grandma D's for the day. I'm super-excited to wake up tomorrow and see if we've had any visitors!

Merry Christmas to all
Katherine









Cookie Monster










Watching the movie with Dad

Sitting in a tree with NO k-i-s-s-i-n-g

I had a VERY special night tonight. My good friend from school, Nicolo, invited me to come and see the Festival of Lights with his family. We even had pizza before which was a super-sweet treat! I was so excited all day, this was my first time ever leaving the house with a friend. Nic's Mom used to run the coffee shop in town and has made a few birthday cakes for our family, so Mom trusts her pretty well. I had so much fun with them and of course, I was a very good girl.

It kind of worked out well that I left when I did because our house was in chaos around that time -- a water pipe burst in the basement today. Fortunately we were home and Dad caught it in a matter of seconds, but we still have water damage to contend with. The plumber was out here right away to fix the problem and the insurance will cover it all, so we're grateful for knowing good people and having safeguards -- it could have been worse. I think Dad secretly hoped for his TV to get soaked so he could finally justify a new one -- what are they up to now? 72 inches? Puh-lease!

Got a little shopping and wr-wr-wrapping to do this week and we'll be all set for the big day. Buddy the Elf snuck in our suitcase this weekend and tagged along to WI. I had fun seeing all my family and playing with Roxie the dog and my cousins. I missed Adam and Casey so much I had to call them to say hello today. I had majuh-fun hot tubbing in the snow (in my underpants) and sledding with my family. So much to be grateful for.

Have a gar-oovy week!
K

Ice Ice Baby, Too Cold, Too Cold

For record keeping purposes (please don't ever die Blogger, my Mom doesn't write anything down on real paper), here is my letter to Santa, circa 2008. If that isn't the cutest thing you ever did see, well then you are just a fruit loop wrapped up in a ding-dong. Dad did this with me while Mom was sleeping in last weekend. Mom was so conflicted --happy that Dad took the initiative, but upset she missed it -- we waited until 10am Mom, get up! I wanted to put Spike the Dinosaur on there, but Mom and Dad said Santa would not bring anything that makes Zach poo his pants, and Spike makes Zach freak the heck out, trust me.

And for fun here is a belated pic from last week of Mom and I at my class the day she came to read. I officially stumbled off the "little bus" today for the last time (yeah, that's right -- I ride the little bus, so what???). As previously mentioned, I will start full days after the break. I gave my driver, "Petey", a little box of chocolates and thanked her for bringing me home safely day after day to have lunch with my Mommy. I will miss my 2 little buddies on the bus. How awesome is the school for keeping the half-day program going for just 3 of us little twerps? -- 2 of which have already planned on repeating kindergarten next year, so really, just ME -- thanks taxpayers! Time to move on to bigger and better things, like deciding which days are for hot lunch and which days are a bagger. Has the lunch menu changed much since Mom was a kid? Uh, no. But, as long as there are none of those pancake wrapped sausage things on a stick, Mom may be cool with hot lunch from time to time. Now Dad with his ham sandwiches and baby carrots DAY AFTER DAY, may be a tougher sell.

It I wasn't a sweet little 5 year old, I would have some choice words to say about this weather right now. It sounds like little metal pellets on the house. Stinkin' ice is going to put the kabash on my school Holiday Party and likely my travel plans to WI. Must keep things in perspective I suppose, but REALLY, the entire state is pink on the radar right now. That's just not right man.

Strap on yo' skates and have safe travels.
K

The Big Dipper

We made a fascinating discovery last week. Zach is a dipper. The kid will eat almost anything if you provide something to dip it in -- ketchup, ranch dressing, even mayo. Mom used to be one of those Mom's that scuffed at other parents and said "I don't need ranch dressing to get my kid to eat vegetables". Well, now she fully admits that he can eat just the dressing if that's what it takes. Just yet another issue that we're desperate to resolve, so weird tactics are welcome. He has eaten more pork, chicken and beef in one week than he likely has in a year. Seriously. We thought he was becoming a self-turned vegan lately, but this is a huge change for us. Maybe the peanut butter stockpiles can go down now.

In other pint-sized news, Buddy is still here and still making more work for us. He "TP'd" the living room with crepe paper, he played with my toys and we found him out in the snow this morning. He's a stinker, that's fo' sho.

I got some snow time yesterday. It was fun to sled on the icy driveway, but not enough snow to make any creations with. Zach finally got to go out in it. Mom still can't find any boy snowpants, so he had to wear my old 2T pink ones, but they worked out ok. He's not a big fan of the snow, or tipping over and not being able to get back up. He just liked to carry his shovel around and hit the snow with it.

We've got my last day of school tomorrow along with my school party. We're supposed to head to WI right after lunch. Can you believe tomorrow is my LAST DAY as a half-day kid? I will officially start full-days after the New Year. I hope the weather tonight doesn't ruin our day tomorrow!

Later taters!
Katherine

Leaps, Letters and Laughs

Hello and ho, ho, ho to you. I have been having a great weekend. Dad took the day off Friday, so it was nice to have him here to take me to school, Mom was happy to sleep in! I had my annual gymnastics Christmas party. This year, I am with the K-2nd graders, so Mom and Dad didn't get to watch much or come in :(. I had fun dancing and visiting with Santa. Zach was very curious about Santa, but he wouldn't go near him. I told him I want a Kit doll and horses. We went out to eat afterwards and had a nice night. Today, we went shopping for a last minute Holiday outfit. Mom had already bought one for me, but after trying it on Saturday, we decided we didn't like it, so we braved the crowds today and found a much cuter one. We're having family photos done tomorrow and just trying to get us all outfits that fit and somewhat match is quite the challenge. Dad is finishing up his Christmas shopping with Uncle D today.

I wrote my letter to the big guy yesterday. Mom will try to scan it and put it online later. Buddy has been getting into his usual trouble lately. He stole some of my advent candy, he hid in my coat pocket and in my bed. He also hid in the freezer one morning. We think he must miss the North Pole. I sure hope he's keeping good tabs on me because I have been extra nice! Hope you are all doing the same~

Katherine

Dreaming of a Dino Christmas

We tried to make a dinosaur snowglobe today. Mom had been looking to purchase one, but we decided to just make one. The first attempt ended with the lid not screwing back on correctly and water all over the place. Attempt #2 was with a peanut butter jar. That worked better, but we didn't wait long enough for the glue to dry and the flying reptile fell down from the top and landed in the tree. We need MORE GLITTER! We forgot that Zach dumped out the big tube o' glitter last month. All in all, it was a cute way to kill the blustery afternoon and have some fun.

Ol Buddy the Elf is still up to his antics. This morning he ate half a gingerbread man and made a snowman out of marshmallows. What a stinker! I made donuts at school today, that was fun! I was all sorts of crazy at lunch time.

Be safe in this weather my peeps.

More Mischief

You would think that we have enough to worry about around here, let alone a sneaky little elf! Old Buddy has really been getting into trouble at night. We've decided he must be nocturnal! On Saturday, we found him in the cereal cabinet, munching on Dad's Captain Crunch. I only get that on the weekends, so how does Buddy think he's special?? On Sunday, we found him at the kitchen table, drinking syrup from a straw. And this morning, he was hanging from the fireplace. That may sound like no big deal, but he had doodled all over the fireplace window! I think Santa was playing a joke on us when he sent us Buddy. Mom is a little fed up with him, but I promised to have a talk with him after school today. I think Buddy has caught Zach getting into the tree when no one is looking! Either that or it is him who is taking ornaments off the tree!

We had a quiet, but nice weekend. I did some school work and helped Mom make gingerbread dough. We'll cut the cookies out today. We did some Christmas shopping at Toys R Us and then went to see a Christmas Village/Carnival. We went out to eat at my favorite restaurant and came home to watch the Elf Movie. Yesterday, Mom took me to see a dancing Christmas play nearby. It was really fun! I'm so happy the Bears won, Dad was in a good mood when we got home. I don't remember if I mentioned it before, but Mom took Zach to a farm show last week and he had lots of fun. He's at the age now where he can go on some field trips with Mom as well.

I hope you had a nice weekend as well. Did you get a naughty elf?


Love
Katherine

A Special Visitor

Hi! I've had a grrrrr-eat week. Mom came and read to my class at school today, that was a fun treat. She read A Dinosaur's Night Before Christmas, which may very well be the coolest book ev-ah! Mom was going to save it as a Christmas gift, but it was too cool to wait that long. My classmates all liked it as well.

When we got home, I noticed there was a wrapped package on the porch. Big deal, right? Well, this particular package was from THE North Pole! And it was addressed to Zach and I! There was a letter inside that read like this:

Dear Katherine and Zach,

I have been really, really busy this year. I have a hard time watching each and every little boy and girl to see if they have been naughty or nice. So I have sent a little friend to you to watch over you until Christmas. His name is Buddy the Elf. He will keep a good eye on you and Zachary. He will report back to me on Christmas Eve and let me know if you have been good little children. But I have to warn you, Buddy has been known to be a little bit of a silly elf. He sometimes gets into trouble here at the North Pole. I hope he will be good for you. Please take good care of him and remember, he’s watching you from now until Christmas!

Love,
Santa

P.S. Please don’t forget the carrots for my reindeer.

I was a little freaked out to open up the package. I was afraid that a real elf might jump out of the box, so I made Mom do it. But it was just a harmless little elf named Buddy. We put him up on the fireplace mantle so he could have a good view of the happenings around the house. I hope he stays up there and stays out of trouble! I can't believe I was lucky enough to get my own elf from the North Pole. Mom and Dad were both very jealous, they never got elves when they were little.

I think Mom and I are going to a Festival of Dance this weekend to see a Christmas Performance. Other than that, it should be a pretty laid back weekend. Some of our plans fell through, so looks like we'll be sticking around the house. I really want to go sledding, but it is a bit too chilly with the wind.

Have a great weekend! And be good!

Katherine

Snow-a-saurus

Howdy howdy. Long time no post. I had a great Thanksgiving. Went up to Grandma D's for the day and had fun playing with my cousins. It was a full house, but we had fun. On Friday, we drove to WI and spent the weekend up there. I enjoyed just playing and relaxing. Nana spoiled me, which is always a perk. We drove back in the beginning of the snow Sunday morning. It wasn't really too bad, but judging by Mom's reaction, you'd think it was the worst blizzard in history. She needs to CHILL!

It was warm enough here today to get out and play in the snow. We went out while Zach napped. He's not a huge fan of the snow and doesn't have any snow pants yet. I was out there for a couple hours! It was fun! The snow was a little dry, but we found a sunny, mushy spot and made a snow Stegosaurus. We painted him blue and green. He's not quite as grandiose as the Triceratops that Koller and Carly helped me with in the past, but he's still pretty nifty. I then helped mom shovel and hang up some garland. We don't know if Dad will get the icicle lights up this year or not, it is too slick up there right now. Oh! And the house is all decorated, too. We just need a wreath for above the fireplace. We're not going to chance a poinsetia again this year. I helped put all the keepsake ornaments on the tree and did my own little tree as well. Mom stuffed the advent calendar with Halloween Candy, but I'm not complaining. Times are tough, gotta recycle that candy! Zach is fascinated with the tree. Everytime he touches it, Mom gives him a swift rapping on the hand, it'll be no surprise if the kid grows up hating Christmas. At this rate, he's going to have some red hands. He's getting better, he just thinks they are all "balls" to play with. As long as he doesn't pull it over, we'll be in good shape.

I'm off to chug the rest of my cocoa. We've been making it at home at it is SO much better than the nasty packaged stuff. Mom made it with candy cane milk today and it was extra tasty. She keeps putting this stuff in a brown bottle into her mug....wonder what that is Mom?

Later taters!