How Would You Respond?

Yesterday, Mommy was walking out of a Target store.  When she entered the crosswalk, she casually observed a car at the nearby stop sign.  There was some pretty loud music coming from the car, but Mommy didn't give it a second thought until she the driver of the car yell, "That's right B****, you heard the music!" in her direction.

Mommy ignored the comment and kept walking...but as soon as she got into her car she wished she had said something to the un-gentleman driver.  Thankfully, I wasn't around to hear such rudeness.  Mommy knows that won't always be the case, though.

Mommy is wondering how she could have responded that would have:
A. Let the driver know she was offended.
B. Shown me that women shouldn't be talked to that way.
C. Not further exacerbated the situation.

Any ideas?

My Dinner Prayer

Mommy asked if I would like to pray over dinner tonight.  I said yes, and then prayed the following:

God...Jesus...thank...you...for...five...six...amen!

Apparently, there are two versions of the word 'for'.  Mommy tried to explain the difference to me, but I just don't get it.

Sunday Best

Today has been a sad day for Mommy.  During the morning worship service, she found out that one of her coworkers from her old school passed away this morning.  She was only 42 years old.  She left behind a loving husband, 4 year old son, and 2 year old daughter.  We are asking God to bring them comfort, strength, and help.
I know the Brown family, as well as the students and staff of Dickinson Elementary, would really appreciate your prayers, too.

Potty Time!

Guess who is the proud new owner of a potty chair?

It's me!

Mommy and Daddy decided that it was time for me to be introduced to this little guy, even though I'm not yet showing all the signs of potty training readiness. 

And the best news?  I've already gone pee-pee in my new potty three times!

Mommy is hoping that I am completely ready for potty training by the time she's off for Christmas Break.  That would give us two full weeks of hard-core PTing.  She knows I may not be ready at that time, though...and she has promised to be patient if my schedule and her schedule aren't in synch.

And, since I know some of you will be in the potty chair market soon, may I kindly suggest...

the Jack Potty.

Vegas can thank me in about 20 years.

Teacher PSA

Attention all teachers:

Mommy would like you to know that dry erase markers are not easily wiped off of floor tiles.

Even if you, the teacher, try it out yourself with no problems before letting students have a go.

Please save yourself an embarassing call to the school secretary by keeping dry erase markers on the dry erase boards.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Today is a very important day for me because it's the day we celebrate my Daddy's birth!

Happy birthday, Daddy!

You are the best daddy a girl could ask for. 

Mommy and I are proud of who you are and who you are becoming.



*************

Happy birthday to you, too, Poppy!   Thank you for raising Mommy in a way that showed her the love of the Heavenly Father.

I Have a Favor to Ask...

Anyone who's ever peeked inside a fast food kid's meal with great anticipation knows that the 'prizes' in those things can really be hit or miss.  Well, right now Chick-fil-A is serving up a huge hit...and I'm not just talking about their yummy nuggets. 

I'm talking about books in Laura Numeroff's "If You Give..." series. 

The whole book.

With all of Felicia Bond's illustrations.

In the cutest miniature size you ever did see.

See what I mean?  Huge hit!

Here's the favor part:

Mommy would love to collect as many of these books as she can for her classroom library.  Her students choose 4 or 5 books from the classroom library each week to place in their "Book Boxes", and Mommy just knows that the "If You Give..." books would be a huge Book Box hit.

So, if any of you Metroplex Chick-fil-Aers happen to come across one of these books in the next few weeks, Mommy would be most grateful if you would pass it on to her 25ish students.

If you can bear to be parted from such cuteness, that is!

As if you needed another reason to give Target your money...

My Mommy is a big Target fan.

And I'm sure there are scores of other toddlers out there who can agree with the above statement.

In fact, I don't know of one single mommy out there who isn't a fan of the big red bullseye. 
Surely at least one such naysayer exists...but I haven't met her yet.

For at least the last year and a half, Target has carried a product in their Mossimo clothing line that Mommy just can't get enough of.  It's nothing fancy, but she's found it to be an indispensable part of her wardrobe.

And here it is:

See, I told you...nothing fancy. 

Mommy loves these tanks. She discovered them shortly after I was born and has found them to be a great alternative to camisoles, which always seem to be cut a little too low at the top and a little too high at the waist.  Putting one of these tanks on under a shirt means Mommy doesn't have to spend the day making sure her bra and back aren't visible.

Mommy's dresser drawer is currently housing the white, black, brown, and blue version.  Actually, that isn't completely true.  It's very rare to find all four tanks in the drawer at the same time, as one is usually on Mommy's body and one is usually in the washing machine.  Even after 18 months of regular washing, though, these tanks are still going strong!

In addition to the most basic colors, Target usually offers the tanks in a handful of seasonal shades.  They are priced at $9...which Mommy thinks is a fabulous deal for something she gets so much use out of. 

If you ever see them on sale, though, make sure you let Mommy know.  She's got plans to expand her collection.

Sunday Best

Happy Grandparents Day*!

I sure did miss Gramma and Grampa today.  Those lucky ducks were in Kerrville visiting Uncle Brian, Aunt Becky, and Cousin Micah.

I did, however, get to spend a little bit of time with Mimi and Poppy when we went to Daddy's favorite pizzeria for lunch.

Now, don't be jealous of the Bud Light background.

And I spent a whole lot of time with Poppy at the little coloring table the restaurant owner has set up. Mommy and Daddy were really impressed with how long I was focused on coloring.

Ian and I also had our first hand-holding experience (or premarital interdigitation, as Poppy calls it) in the nursery today. 

We were chilling in the swings (yes, we are really too big for those things) and "Aunt" Tara looked over just in time to snap this cutie photo.  Ian and Preston hold hands while they swing on their swingset at home, so it was just natural for Ian to reach out for my hand!

*Actually, in the spirit of honesty and openness I must admit that I didn't even know it was G'Parents Day until Mimi and Poppy told me.  Thanks for filling me in, guys!

Daily Dose of Cute

I realize that a number of you may be having some difficulty getting in your daily dose of cute since I've dropped the frequency of my blog posts.  Don't worry, though...I've found just the blog to supplement your cuteness quotient on the days I'm out of pocket.

It's called Mila's Daydreams, and it's hosted by one creative mommy!  While her baby is napping, she poses and props her to create the most adorable story scapes. 

Here's one of my favorites, taken directly from the blog:

Can't you just feel the cuteness rising inside of you?

Packin' in the Playdates

Last Saturday, we met Courtney, Julie, and Aunt Zsa at "Going Bonkers"...which could very well have been named "A Toddler's Dream Come True".  I had a blast crawling and climbing through the toddler and big kid areas! 

The little $.50 rides weren't too bad, either.

This past Saturday, I went back to the splash pad at Uptown Village with Mommy and Daddy.  Cooper met us there with his Mommy and Daddy, too!  We intended to play in the water for a while, but we quickly realized that it was a little too cool for water play.  Fortunately, Uptown Village also has a water-free play area...so we headed there for some dino-tastic fun!

And check out this picture from a Cooper/Katie Bug playdate 9 months ago!  We were just babies here...

but now we're big toddlers...or "biii toller"s, as I like to say.

And here's another throwback picture for you.  This is from a pool playdate with Ian, Preston, and me last Labor Day.

And here we are at our park playdate this Labor Day.

Okay, so maybe it's not such a great shot.  Have you tried taking a picture of a 3-year old, 19-month old, and 17-month old lately?  If you have, you know that it's pretty much impossible.

Not-so-hot photos aside, I had a great time at all three of my recent playdates.  Give me a call if your toddler/preschooler is ever bored on the weekend.  I'll see if I can pencil you in!

Saturday Surprise

Three Saturdays ago, I hit the road with Mommy, Daddy, Mimi, and Poppy to surprise a San Antonio dwelling friend at his 30th birthday party.  We had a great time with Micah, Mary, Judah, and baby Claire...even though we were only able to spend a few hours with them.

Mary and Mommy have been friends since they were little girls. Micah and Mommy have been friends since high school. Daddy has been friends with Micah and Mary since college.  Daddy and Micah even lived together for a few years (until Daddy decided he needed to move back home so he could save enough money to get married)...and boy did they ever do a great job of keeping each other entertained!

We don't get to see these friends very often...in fact, before this surprise visit it had been years since anyone in my family had seen Micah.  When we are able to get together, though, it seems like we just saw them yesterday! 

Even Judah and I act like forever friends.  The two of us had only met once before his Daddy's birthday party. That didn't stop him from sharing his real drum set and toys with me, though.

He even let me try out his potty chair!

Aren't we fortunate to have such great friends?

Labor Day Fun

I hope your Labor Day has been as fun as mine! 

(Mommy and I like to think of clever ways to entertain each other while waiting for Daddy to wake up.)

This morning, my whole Dallas-dwelling family met at a local park for a little bike riding, hot dog eating, and park playing.

The park just happened to have a glorious little thing called a sandbox.  Have you ever been in one of those things?  They are awesome, I tell you!  Mommy and Daddy are thinking there needs to be a beach vacation in our future (you know, since I'm not trying to eat the gritty stuff anymore).

The grownups in my family were quite impressed with my climbing capabilities today.  There wasn't a table, staircase, or scaling wall that I didn't try to take on. 

Slides, however, are another story.  I'm pretty picky about those things.

Sunday Best

Happy Day-Before-Labor-Day Sunday!

This morning at church, Mommy's friend Mary (who often serves in our children's church service) commented that she has noticed a decline in the number of parents who send their children to church with money to give in the offering.  Mommy said that she'd noticed the same thing when she works in the preschool children's church...then it dawned on her that she is one of those parents sending her child to church offeringless.

I may be just at tot, but Mommy and Daddy believe that I am old enough to begin learning that bringing a financial offering to God is part of worship.  So when I enter the nursery next Sunday it will be with a quarter in my hand.  Don't worry, though, that quarter won't be entrusted to my care until my parents are sure it will be passed immediately on to a nursery worker.  There will be no offering-related trips to the ER for us!

After worship this morning, my family went to lunch with Mommy and Daddy's young adult group (in case you're wondering, this is a monthly occurance).  We ate at Ton's Mongolian Grill. It's is a favorite of many locals...but not this local.  Ton's requires a lot of waiting.  And waiting.  By the time Mommy had chosen her food, waited in line to have it cooked on the big grillish thingy, and made it back to the table to eat I was d-o-n-e with that place! 

Thankfully, Auntie was already finished with her meal. She graciously volunteered to take me home for my nap while Mommy and Daddy ate in peace.  Just before Auntie and I walked out the door, though, I heard Mommy promise not to make me go back to Ton's until I'm at least 4 years old. 

Thanks, Mommy!

Trying to Get Caught Up

It has been brought to my attention that I am not doing a very good job of keeping my blog readers updated with the events of my life.  Since Mommy's gone back to work, though, I just don't have as much free blogging time.  Playing at Mrs. Toni's house is very time consuming, you know!

Since I did sort of dump and run recently on two important issues, I thought I'd take a little time today to get you caught up.

Issue #1

Katelyn vs. The Hives

Mommy and Daddy are fairly certain that fresh cut grass was the culprit of the major hive outbreak I had about a month ago.  Thankfully, the pedi-prescribed two weeks of Zyrtec was all it took to get rid of them. 

Issue #2

Mimi vs. The Abnormal Heart Rate

Mimi's doctor has determined that her present heart issues are Premature Ventricular Contractions.  The crazy news, however, is that he thinks the PVC is completely unrelated to Mimi's congenital heart problem.  For now, Mimi is on a medication that might help keep the PVC under control.  If it doesn't work, though, she will have to undergo another ablation.

Thanks to all of you who were praying about my hives and Mimi's heart.  My family really appreciates your prayers!