Are you happy?

Every day I am surprised by something Katherine says. One of the funny things Katherine has recently begun to ask is,"Are you happy?" She asks this after we have scolded her for something, or if we say something strongly to her. The conversation goes something like this....."Katherine, sit down at table." "Are you happy?" "No, I'm not happy. Please sit down." "Sorry mommy." It gets me everytime - I know I shouldn't laugh, but I just can't help it!

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone's turkey day was a time of thankfulness and full of friends and family. We had a great day - actually, we've had a great few days. On Monday my parents arrived and we always enjoy it when they're in town. Tuesday, oone of our long-time friends, Cathy, came to visit us. We had a great time catching up with her and remembering the "old days." Wednesday, we spent the afternoon and evening cooking. Katherine enjoyed helping in the kitchen as we prepared all the food - and she especially enjoyed licking the beaters my mother gave her! On Thursday my cousin Margaret and her two girls, Sophie and Isabel came from Arizona for the festivities - Katherine loved being with them. She showed them all of her toys and they were kind enough to play with her. When they left she kept asking, "where are my cousins?" It was a great few days, and this morning we slept in, ate leftovers for breakfast, and danced in our pajamas! How often do you have a day like that?

Photo Shoot

Each year we try to get some professional pictures taken of Katherine. Last Friday, Katherine and I met our favorite photographer - Vangie Ogg - for a photo shoot in the park near our house. It was a fun day - Vangie is an expert at catching the true spirit of Katherine. Also, this was my only option for photos after K refused to take school pictures at either one of her preschools. You can check out our photos on Vangie's blog. When you see K's pictures, scroll down to the end of the blog - there is a link to additional photos, but I believe the slide show will only be up for 7 days - so, look fast! And, Jan and Mom - don't order any because you'll probably get some for Christmas! :)

Fishy Puzzle

One of Katherine's favorite things to do right now is to put together her "fishy puzzle." It's really not just a favorite thing to do, it's an obsession. She wants to put it together all the time. A couple of weeks ago the first words out of her mouth for a few mornings were "I want to put together the fishy puzzle." It's sort of an elaborate puzzle - but, since we've now done it at least 60 times, Katherine seems to have every piece memorized. She can put it together by herself - and she often sees pieces that go together that I don't see. It's amazing how her brain works - what always gets me is that she has favorite fish in the puzzle which she makes remarks about every time she does the puzzle - and she always has to point out the diver - she's in love with divers for some reason (in the puzzle, at the aquarium, in Hawaii).




If anyone wants to volunteer to come over and do the puzzle with Katherine, we would love that - I've just about had enough of the fish puzzle!

Homecoming

Saturday we decided to drive up to Oxy for the Homecoming game. Our area was affected by smoke from the multiple fires burning in the area - ash raining down on our house, and so going to Oxy was a good excuse to get into some better air. It was sort of funny to be back to Oxy for a football game - I don't think I've been to one since I was in college. When you attend a D-III school, football is not the center of life on campus. However, this year's team is doing really well - they are ranked 15th in the nation (Div. III) and will be going to the national championships next week! Despite all of that ranking, going to an Oxy game is a lot like going to a high school football game. But, it was fun to be on campus and to see some friends from my college days. It was a bit surreal to be standing with my old college friends while our kids jumped in the bounce house. K enjoyed the game and thought the whole experience was pretty fun. It was a daytime game, and it was so HOT! It's unbelievable that it is November and it was in the 90's. At half time, we met my friend Alison who was home visiting her family. Alison is living in Sudan - and I hadn't seen her for over a year - so, it was really great to see her.

It was so generous of her to take time away from her family to spend time with us. Thanks, Alison! Since it was so hot we decided to get some ice cream, and before I thought about it, I told K she could choose what kind of ice cream she wanted - as soon as I said that, I realized that I should've suggested the frozen yogurt, but it was too late. K had her eye fixed on the Haagen Daas chocolate bar - which she held on to with both hands and ate the whole thing.



While we were visiting with Alison, K had fun with my camera - I thought the pictures she took were pretty funny....





After the game, we headed home, back into the smoke - although it did make for a very red sunset.



After the game and the ice cream, K was exhausted - she was asleep before we left Eagle Rock.

k is for katherine

In the last couple of weeks, Katherine has begun to identify letters by her friends' names. For example, if she sees the letter "d" she says, "look mommy, David." She identifies "s" as Sophia, "e" as Emmett, and, of course, "k" as Katherine. She seems to be really good at identifying patterns and remembering what words mean what - for example, she knows that Target is "mommy's favorite store" and she knows "starbuck's" means coffee (even when she just sees the word - not the store). At K's preschool, the children wear nametags, and Katherine is able to select hers from the pile.

Special Guests

Tonight Katherine and her best friend, Benny, hosted their teachers from day care at our house. Katherine was so excited she could hardly contain herself. In total, we had three of her teachers, the person who works at the front desk, her husband, their 3 children, Steve and Florence and Benny and Stewart. It was quite a party! When her teacher, Diondra arrived, Katherine gave her a tour of the house and pointed out everything she saw...."that's my fan, that's my bed, that's my train..." She also took everyone outside and pointed out the candles and told them to be careful because they were "hot." Katherine was a very thoughtful hostess, and made sure that everyone had drinks and that all her friends had food before she got her food. We're so proud of the way Katherine cares for others and is so thoughtful. And, we're so glad that she has such great teachers!

I want some of that!

Almost every day I am shocked with Katherine's memory - she remembers things that I hardly even noticed - and she doesn't seem to forget them - for many months. For example, today we were in Target, and she saw some napkins that we used for my mom's birthday (in August). Katherine pointed them out and said, "we had those for grandma's birthday." Later, in Trader Joe's, she pointed out the cereal that my parents had at their house (multiple varieties). She also remembers events like my parent's dog dying (she remembered that after only one incident of hearing about this - and a month later - remembered this when we showed up at my parent's house). I wish I could capture just an ounce of her memory!

OK - so it's been awhile

I've decided to revist the blogging world. Since I have been terrible at documenting Katherine's life for the past, I don't know, 10 months, I thought I should find a different way of capturing milestones and things K does and says. So, with fingers crossed, and lots of good intentions, here we go!