6 going on 16

In her room with the door closed, on her bed, wearing headphones with the iPad turned all the way up.  Could be the reason she didn't hear me calling her from across the house ... or even realize I opened the door and took this picture.  

Sweetest kid ever

I was having a rough day at work the other day and remembered Kendall saying something in the morning rush about "checking my purse when I got to work."  Found this buried at the bottom of my purse.  

Too cute not to post

"Fluffy"

 

This past Friday after work/school, I had lofty aspirations of ordering pizza, vegging on the couch watching a movie that both Kendall and I could enjoy, then going to bed early.  Like I said, "lofty."  I had just let the dogs out after getting home when I noticed Ginger standing in the back of the yard with something in her mouth.  I yelled at her to drop it and went out to see two baby bunnies trying to climb my (6') fence.  I got the dogs inside and then went back to try to find the babies and couldn't find either of them so I assumed the one Ginger had in her mouth was ok and they both got out.  Lofty assumption.  Less than an hour later, Ginger had a mouthful of something furry in the yard and, bless her heart, again dropped it when I yelled at her and came in.  This time the bunny didn't move. 

 

The realist in me knows that rabbits are a nuisance in my neighborhood and most of my neighbors are engaged in futile attempts to get rid of them.  My animal loving instincts, however, coupled with my mommy instincts knew that I couldn't just leave it in the yard for Ginger to finish off ... or 1/2 finish off .... and possibly bring in the house.  So Fluffy spent the evening in my guest room in a box.

 

Kendall named the bunny "Fluffy" and I spent what felt like hours on the phone trying to get information and find a wildlife rescue that would take him/her.  We called it a "her" but really have no idea.  At one point Kendall asked if she could keep her for a pet but then decided that I loved Fluffy more than her and he/she needed to go.  I should also mention that the only reason she named the bunny at all was because I told her it probably would not make it through the night so she wanted it to have a name to put on the headstone when we buried it.  Disturbing?  Sweet?  Not sure .... 

 

 

 

I knew that I was not releasing Fluffy back into my yard because of the dogs and I also failed at every attempt to find the nest.  So I decided it was ok to hold her.  And cuddle her a bit.  And let Kendall hold her.  Again, really didn't think she'd make it through the night.  One of her eyes was bleeding and she wasn't moving at all.  

 

But she did.  Her eye stopped bleeding and she had moved in the box ... which was now decorated with ground covering from the yard, flowers, lettuce, brocolli, and a stuffed tiger.  Several more hours were spent on the phone trying to get ahold of someone who might take her.  I now have a list of at least 20 wildlife rehabbers in N. Dallas, only one of whom bothered to call me back.  Fluffy was taken to this lady who also worked at the Plano Animal Shelter.  The lady said Fluffy looked too young to release just yet so she was going to keep her for a few days before releasing her.  I haven't received any updates but didn't ask for any.  We're going to go with the "no news is good news" theory on this one.  

New dresses from Nana

Designed by Kendall.  

School of what??

Kendall takes all 5 of her kids to school every morning, which means she places them in random rooms of the house.  I have no idea what this one is studying, but my attempts to relocate her were met with opposition, bordering on hostility, so there she has remained for the past 3 days.  I am not sure what is more disturbing, the doll standing right behind me while I use my toilet, or the fact that one of the kids has been in a "time out" in a dark closet for the past 3 days.  

Strong organizational skills?

Seems like just yesterday she was lining up her Mickey Mouse characters ("Hi-hi's").  A friend of mine ,who is an engineer/patent attorney, looked at this picture and said Kendall may have a future in engineering and science ... though he did note that sharpie numbers 6 and 8 are out of order.  

Mimosa Park

Our neighborhood park, to which we can walk (!) has recently undergone a major makeover and is now really nice!  Last Saturday we took a picnic lunch and spent a couple of hours there.  Kendall rode her scooter and I walked.  I need a scooter.  

THIS shocked me!  I had no idea she could climb and can no longer use Kendall's fear of physical exertion as an excuse for turning down the rock climbing vacations a friend of mine continues to offer.  Now I have to fess up to the fact that I don't even like climbing stairs, much less rocks.  Pretty sure that confession, however, will shock no one.  

Kindergarten Math

I'm pretty sure I wasn't learning about fractions until at least 3rd or 4th grade.  My ability to help Kendall with math may end in the next year or so.   

Easter 2015

We dyed eggs early last year and had a stinky fridge for the better part of a week.  This year we held off until the Friday before Easter.  

Hard to tell from the pics, but this year they sparkled!

A new tradition is an Easter Eve "breakfast for dinner" consisting of Bunny Butt pancakes and bacon.  Kendall is ALL about having many random traditions in life these days.  It's very "Fiddler on the Roof."  But this is an Easter tradition which I suppose would not be Fiddler-like at all ... Anyhow, I'm ok with this one.

We put out the real eggs and 12 plastic eggs so the Easter Bunny could decide which ones to hide.  Because the Easter Bunny did not want to get up at 4AM to hide eggs that would make the house smell by 5 and probably be eaten by the dogs by 5:15, which would ultimately make the house smell even worse.  EB chose the plastic eggs even though that, of course, meant filling them.  This year they were filled with little trinkets (balloons, bracelet, tattoos, candy, socks) instead of coins.  Only 2 of them had money in them.  By 10:30, Kendall was asleep enough that I could hide eggs, fill the basket, get the gifts out and get to bed.  

Last year on Easter night, I met Kendall in the hallway at 3AM.  She was fully dressed, carrying a purse, and "ready for Easter."  She had peeked in the family room and had seen her gift from the Easter Bunny.  I made her go back to bed and was called several unflattering names.  This year, I not only closed the door to the family room, I put the dog gate in front of the door so she would have to get through the gate before the door.  AND, I told her the door was hooked up to the alarm system for the night and if she opened it, the police would come and probably scare off the Easter Bunny.  That worked.  Fool me once ....

She waited until 6:50 to come into my room.  My alarm had already gone off and Chris had texted that he was at the donut store up the road.  She put on her Easter dress, I have no idea why, and the timing worked out perfectly.   Ginger and Ralphie got Dentastix, Daddy got a baseball bunny, Mommy got a Twix Easter Egg, and Kendall got ... well, too much, as usual. 

American Girl Doll of the Year, "Grace."  This makes 5 in our house.  

And, of course, a beanie boo.  Named Duke!

Build-a-Bear Marshmallow Bunny from Mommy and Daddy

 And the Littlest Pet Shop play set nightmare set from hell, from Nana and Saza.  There were 3 structures to be put together.  Close to 1,000 stickers to be put on.  This was not my best gift recommendation.  Kind of a cool toy once it was (mostly) put together, though.  And, of course, it came with an App and the little figures could be scanned into the App via her iPad.  I have no idea what the App does but presumably it greatly enhances the otherwise "mundane" three story play structure that took 3 hours to put together???

Before we went to bed the night before Easter, Kendall had to put Easter gifts for "her girls" in bags.  They (all 5 of them) were then placed in front of their respective gifts and allowed to open them one at a time.  She is always very excited about giving gifts and I absolutely adore that about her.  I found plastic eggs in my room and in the kitchen that had folded up colorful hearts in them.  For me!  

 Here is my attempt to put together a "festive" Easter veggie plate for our dinner at a friend's house.  

At noon, we went to the home of Silke's grandparents (Mimi and Deso) for more egg hunting (A LOT more egg hunting!) and a lovely dinner of honey baked ham, baked corn, peas, spinach salad, rolls and to-die-for banana pudding!  

The little ladies had their own formal table! 

Kendall was just over being photographed by the time the moms managed to get in a picture but this is really the only one I'm in.  Yes, she is scowling and pushing my arm off of her.  But it's good of Silke and her mom (also named Kendall!)  

This picture pretty much sums up the day.  It was only 4:00 I had to carry her from the car to the couch and she didn't even wake up!  When she did wake up, she asked for "chicken and peas for dinner ....nothing sweet."  I guess her sweet tooth does have a limit.  

Backyard Photo Session

For the second year in a row, I did not have the energy to deal with the Northpark Mall Easter photo drama which includes at least a 2 hour wait right next to the Disney Store for a 2 minute photo session with real bunnies that (a) may or may not poop on my kid, or (b) inexplicably terrify my kid.  It also costs $50 for the sitting and one 5x7 print.  In lieu of that insanity, I present our FREE 2015 backyard Easter photo session!

And now I present the outtakes: