Day 13 - A Sad State of Affairs

Taking that last step over the halfway mark, this is how Annie found me this morning. All the energy I had could have fit into my big toe. Annie, God bless her, racked up a massive amount of stars.....set her homework aside......... did the morning routine with her and trotted her off to the park. Having people around you to help ease the load when you are at your saturation level is a beautiful thing. By the time they returned I was rejuevinated and ready to take the afternoon on.

She had a blast at the park and joined all the activities that were going on. She is such a social creature.... within minutes of joining a group of kids she is happily a part of the group. She is surely her dad's girl.

This afternoon we got a little wading pool for the back patio. It's not much but it's a step above the 9X11 pan she was dishing water out of. After carrying out 12 big pans of hot water to dump into it she informed me she didn't want to play in it anymore. Damn it kid..... you get out there and have fun playing in that pool (of course I didn't say that but the words blinked off and on like a neon sign in my brain)..... Hmmmm....... Hmmmmm...... That is me doing my mantra with thumbs touching my index finger, legs crossed, with incense burning.....

Day 12 - Shaving Cream Fun

Little Petunia is starting to plan her own projects now. Today she decided we should make birdhouses. (I have an unfinished one on my computer desk) It took quite a bit of convincing for her to accept we wouldn't be able to get a real bird to go in them. We made a puffy paint which was awesome. However she didn't want it to be puffy so she squished the heck out of it.

Puffy Paint

1/3 Cup white glue

2/3 Cup shaving cream

Mix together and add tempura paint for the coloring. We used a styrofoam egg carton to mix our individual colors in. I had some sea shells and insect buttons and leaves that we used for decorations and she picked out some birds from Michaels. But, what Miss Funfinity was really interested in was that can of shaving cream.

About the time I was getting her situated on the back patio, Erica came over..... very much not knowing what she was walking in to. Out came the glint in the eye, and the contagious giggle.... joy filled her whole being as she covered us both with her magic potion. Watching her made me realize how it seems never again will we feel as much complete and simple joy as we do in childhood.... and what a shame it is to squelch it with too many no's, or I don't have the time, or a million other ways we turn them away. (I know because I did it more times than I care to remember to my own kids) Even though I'm exhaused at the end of the day, this time with Mackenzie has been wonderfully fullfilling and joyful. If we frustrate each other it's only because we are two apples growing on the same tree.

Day 11 - Aunt Annie

Kenzie lives for the hour when Aunt Annie is home from work. Her very favorite thing to do is going on a walking adventure with her and Abbey. (anywhere you walk is qualified as an adventure) She also loves playing superman, dancing, sharing a laugh, doing their homework together, and wearing her glasses. Annie is passing on all of her good advice..... "when you grow up and you are 18 you will go to college"..... she makes her repeat it over and over everyday. Right now they are working on their letters. Don't they look sweet together?

Day 10 - Hairy Harry The Potato Man

It was such a beautiful day today..... we spent most of it on the back patio after we went to Cooks Nursery and picked up a few flowers and seeds. To make Hairy Harry you cut out a hollow about 1 1/2" deep on the top of your potato. Cut a slice off the bottom so it will stand up straight. They had cute ideas of using carrot for the eyes, radish for the nose and cutting a turnip for the mouth.... it's hard to tell but Kenzie just drew a face on a piece of paper and we stuck it on with a toothpick.... it works and shows off all her artistic abilities. To make the hair, you're "suppossed" to fill the hollow with wet tissues and sprinkle plenty of cress seeds on to it. Pour in some water into the plant saucer and stand Harry into it. After a few days, Harry's hair is "suppossed" to be long enough to cut, wash and eat. We couldn't find any cress seeds so we got some chives and put some dirt in the top and planted the seeds. We'll see how hairy, harry gets.


Tonight little Miss Sassafrass helped me snap green beans for dinner although she insisted they were NOT green beens but aspenasgrass (asperagas) She was also proud of her healthy choice for snack time today and showed me what all of her friends at school do with their oranges after they eat them. Her theme song should be.... "Girls just want to have fun..... oh yeah

Day Nine - Grandpa Ken Earns 100 Stars

Every Sunday morning is grocery day. We planned our menus and wrote our list. We also wrote up a new star chart to begin a new week. Mackenzie earned a penny for every star. We added making healthier snack choices by eating more fruits and vegetables to her star chart this week.... trying to fight the battle of that dang (you know what I really mean to say) Easter bunny. Kenzie wrote her list and said she only needed to put on one thing..... a toy. Notice her new purple bucket on the next picture with Grandpa Ken. She spent her Easter dollar and 7 of her star pennies. It was very painful for her to part with those 7 pennies.

Grandpa Ken and Kenzie spent the afternoon at the park and going on a bike ride so I could have some time alone to work on some of my own projects. I'm sure there is a special store in heaven where he can redeem all the stars he has earned for all the thoughtful and considerate things he does on my behalf. I finished up a quilt I am making for Melissa's mother-in-laws grandkids for Christmas..... and cut out 2 more.

Tonight we had dinner with Susan's family at Grandma Porters. We really had a great time. Susan's kids are getting so big and Kara's baby is due in just 3 short weeks. I'm sure that isn't how she'd describe it. After dinner Kenzie wanted to go back to the park and wasn't happy when my answer wasn't yes.... let's go right this minute. I told her to go play with the kids, meaning Susan's youngest that is eleven. "She's just a pretend kid. All the kids here aren't real, because they're big," she told me. There's no real kids here like me." What a rip off, having to spend the evening with all of us fake adults. We finally got her interested in playing hide and seek with the beannie babies (notice the lamp) and she found out we were very useful for finding the ones that got hidden up high.

Day Eight - More Grandpa's & Grandma's

Today we went to visit Grandpa Joe, Grandma Austin, and Aunt Mina. She had a great time giving marshmellow treats to Mina's dog, Penny. One treat for the dog and five for herself. Grandma Austin didn't think they looked good enough for a picture but I think the three of them are pretty darn cute. There is just an endless string of grandparents in the life of Miss Kenzie. We visit Grandma Porter every morning (she just lives 3 doors down) and when she is unsatisfied with me she is going to run away to Grandma Lisa's house. (Lindsay's Mom)

This afternoon we made suncatchers for the window from crayons and strings. This was Canyon's favorite art project to do when were at his house a couple of weeks ago. Kenzie is so adamant about doing everything herself so I try hard to let her to that..... what you can't see is me hovering over her in the background wringing my hands and biting my nails.... sweat pouring as I imagine myself being arrested for child abuse as her fragile skin is burned by a one ton iron.

Melted Crayon & String Art Picture

Use a vegetable peeler or crayon sharpner to shave different colors of crayons. Place a brown paper bag down on the table. Then tape a piece of waxed paper about 8 X 11 paper size onto the bag. Using glue and bits of colored string or (and) various colors of tissue paper along with the crayon peelings to form a design. When the design is complete, cover it with another sheet of waxed paper. Place another brown paper bag over the waxed paper and press with a warm iron. Trim the edges and frame with any color of painters tape or you can use masking tape. Hang in the window.

Kenzie recieved a phone call tonight which she promtly took outside into her "office." I'm sure she needed privacy to tell mommy all about the trials of her day..... how grandpa and grandma wouldn't buy her any sodas with dinner and they made her eat dinner before she could have an ice cream cone..... and she had to have some vegetables at lunch time instead of 2 brownies and a handful of jelly beans.... grandma and grandpa have been nothing but trouble today!!

Day Seven - Duck Duck Goose AND A Pony Ride

This morning we made some homemade finger paints. We were going to do some color experiments but she already knew what colors mixed together to make orange, green, and purple. She said, "Grandma don't you know.... I'm in Pre-K" OK then, little miss smarty pants. She still had fun making her rainbow. Here is the reciepe we used. It makes quite a thick paint and couldn't be used with brushes but it was great with hands and popsicle sticks. We used tempura paint to make our colors.

Finger Paint
1/2 C. cornstarch
3 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 C. cold water
Mix ingredients in a pan. Cook over low heat until mixture is thick, smooth and clear. Stir while cooking and then let it cool a bit and then add your colors. Cover tightly to store. I used medicine bottles for the paint.

This afternoon it was time for our suprise adventure she had been waiting for all week. We went to the Duck, Duck, Goose activity at Thanksgiving Point with Reanna and Melissa. They made a duck that quacks from a cup.... fed the ducks and saw the difference between a duck and a goose and then the biggest excitement of all.... she got to go on her first pony ride. Afterwards the girls had a great time feeding the chickens, sheep and goats. The baby goats were just adorable and leaped around like new baby kittens.

While I was working on this, the house became eerily silent so I crept up the stairs and there was the little farm girl as still as I have seen her in the seven days she has been here.