Tue. 1/22/13 :: Balancing Act

The kids have each had one of these giant plastic balls for a few years. When sorting through some of the chaos in Matthew’s room recently, we came across his. He decided he didn’t want it anymore and gave it to Kaylee. Suddenly, what’s old is new again, and she has been constantly playing with them, which usually involves sitting on them in some form.

I know it’s somewhat common to sit on a large fit ball, but I don’t think those who do normally also use a ball as a footrest. Not the most stable configuration. ;)

Thur. 2/23/12 :: New Old Treasures

Grandma Karyl brought out some (mostly costume) jewelry that had belonged to my dad’s mom to give to Kaylee this morning. She had a lot of fun exploring it all.

The green shoe box was full as well.

I think she’s set for jewelry for a while. :)

Sun. 2/12/12 :: Cookie Time

We got our load of Girl Scout cookies today for the orders that Kaylee sold, and then spent the rest of the afternoon sorting them out and getting everything organized. (I’m kind of glad she didn’t sell significantly more. LOL)

Thur. 2/2/12 :: Day at the Dentist

Kaylee got this happy yellow balloon when she went to the dentist for a filling today. It’s the first filling she’s had in a very long time, and the first time at this particular dentist. She is a worrier, and she’d worked herself into quite a state by the time the appointment rolled around, even convincing herself that she couldn’t breathe with the “piggy nose” on that they use for the laughing gas. It got to the point that we were going to have to reschedule for another day when she could be given a sedative before the appointment. When she heard that, she was absolutely crushed. She didn’t want to have to go through more worrying; she just wanted it over with. So she decided to try the nitrous oxide again.

I braced myself for another round of anxious fidgeting and whining, but she handled it like a champ, was completely cooperative, and made no complaints at all (other than when the hygienist accidentally pulled her hair). After only a few minutes with the gas, she was happy as a clam, and by the end she even said she LOVED having cavities! LOL She was quite disappointed when they finally turned the gas off, and was a bit less enthused once the effect wore off, but hopefully, any future appointments will go much more smoothly!

Wed. 2/1/12 :: Beady Bracelets

Kaylee spent the evening in her room making bead bracelets, one for her and one for her best friend, which she plans to give her on Valentine’s Day. Shhhhh. It’s a surprise! :)

Thur. 1/26/12 :: Paralleloraser

Kaylee is working on a math project in which she has to find images of everyday items to illustrate different math concepts. We took a picture of the side of this eraser to demonstrate ‘parallelogram’.

Tue. 1/24/12 :: Just Sweet

When I pulled out my camera tonight, Kaylee grabbed her teddy bear and went into full show mode, doing all kinds of silly, crazy, or dramatic poses, but when I let her pick which photo to use, she chose this simply sweet one. :)

Sun. 1/15/12 :: Girl Scout Grin

Kaylee donned her Girl Scout vest this afternoon in honor of selling cookies. It’s her first year in scouts, and her fear of encountering pets has made going door to door a bit too intimidating of an option for her right now, so we’re trying to get creative with some online marketing options. :)

Fri. 1/6/12 :: Frosting Fiend

Last year Kaylee got a bottle of hot sauce in her Christmas stocking, which was one of her favorite gifts. This year it was a can of chocolate frosting. Sometimes she puts some on a cookie or some such treat, but usually she eats about a cupcake’s worth (or a bit more) just on its own. Sometimes I wonder just what Santa is thinking. ;)

199/365 – Mon. 7/18/11 :: Abstract Etchings

Kaylee was very proud of her art creation on this mini Etch A Sketch. (It’s on the end of a pen.) She says this is a bird by a window and a falling tree. :)

196/365 – Fri. 7/15/11 :: Property Wars

Matthew, playing with a small plastic top Kaylee had brought out from her room and abandoned on the table.

Ho only got to play with it until she noticed that’s what he was doing. Then suddenly she decided she needed it back.  Sharing is not one of her strong points. :b

And Matthew has a few things to learn about the art of negotiation. ;)

189/365 – Fri. 7/8/11 :: Signs of the Times

Kaylee decided to make some new signs for her door.

Matthew was very insulted that he wasn’t included as an inspiration. LOL

Fashion, music, nail polish, and sweets. That’s Kaylee. :)

187/365 – Wed. 7/6/11 :: Welcome to the Jungle

Kaylee wanted to take advantage of her new bedroom setup to host a movie night. She and Mark and Matthew watched “Jungle Book”.  :)

176/365 – Sat. 6/25/11 :: Polish Predicament

Kaylee was in the mood to do some shopping, so I took her over to Target for some girl time. After trying on several shirts, a couple of which she especially loved, and finding a really cool pillow she wanted for her room, in the end she decided to save her money and and just pick out a few shades of the most inexpensive nail polish they had. (Under $1 a bottle – what a deal!)  Then the only decision left was which colors to get. She ended up with Frosted Fuchsia, Caribbean Frost, and Bijou Blue. :)

166.5/365 – Wed. 6/15/11 :: New Wheels!

Yep, it’s another post for today. It’s my blog, I make (and break) the rules. ;)  Excuse the funky color in some of these; it was nearly sunset, so I had to boost the exposure.

I ended up needing a nap after all the labor of Kaylee’s room, and during that time, Mark decided to take the kids out one more time to look for new bikes. They needed them desperately, since they’d outgrown their old ones to the point of knees banging on handlebars. We’d gone looking once before and hadn’t found anything, but this time they scored some affordable appropriate rides at Wal-Mart.

Kaylee still had her training wheels on the little bike. She hadn’t gotten enough time in on it to get the hang of it when she was smaller, and trying to learn when she was so much bigger would have required sending her to clown college. So this was her first time without the training wheels. She was nervous, but she did very well!

Matthew was pleased to find that his skills from last summer were still with him. :)

(We’d also gotten the kids new helmets, but Matthew mistakenly grabbed his old one without realizing. LOL)

166/365 – Wed. 6/15/11 :: The Bed Project – Phase 2

Stickers finally all off!  Time for the major dis-assembly.  This turned out to be a bit more difficult than anticipated, but Mark and I managed with only minor blood loss. We realized during the course of the day that our assistants were woefully under-educated in the filed of tool terminology, so as we were cleaning up and putting stuff away, Mark took the opportunity for some tool time lessons.

Several hours later… ta-da!  A “regular” big girl bed! :)

She now has all kinds of grand dreams for decorating her room, one of the first of which is replacing this Backyardigans comforter. LOL

165/365 – Tue. 6/14/11 :: The Bed Project – Phase 1

Kaylee got this bed at age 2. As she’s grown, it’s gotten to be more of a challenge for her to get in and out easily. I’d already removed the canopy fabric at the head end to give her a little more room, but it wasn’t enough. So, after planting the seed in her head a few months ago that it was getting to be time to convert it to a regular bed, she finally decided she was ready.

The first step was sorting through and relocating or donating all the stuff she had stored under the bed and slide – no easy task, since it was stuffed completely full. (I always forget to take “before” pictures!)

The next step was to remove the tower and the canopy frame.  Kaylee removed the last screw and post all by herself!

Next was a whole lot of sticker peeling, scraping, and cleaning, since we decided it wouldn’t be a good idea to store the pieces with the adhesive left on. (Who’s bright idea was it anyway to let her plaster her bed with stickers? Hint: it wasn’t me. :b) This was a tedious, time-consuming, finger-aching job, and would not be completed all in one day. To be continued…

159/365 – Wed. 6/8/11 :: Watercolor Wednesday

I broke out the Kaylee’s leftover watercolor paints from school to do a set of papers for my shop.  Kaylee was mad because I ended up using almost all of her yellow. LOL

156/365 – Sun. 6/5/11 :: Crafty Couture

Kaylee was bored, so I suggested she craft something. She ended up making this cool hat from streamers, pipe cleaners, a few beads, and a lot of scotch tape. ;)

155/365 – Sat. 6/4/11 :: Certified, Part 2

After missing last month’s Young Magicians Club meeting, Kaylee finally got her certificate!  (Presenting the certificate is Reade, Mark’s co-leader of the club.)