On the way to school

Daddy, why is it Grandpa Charlie's birthday?

Because this is the day he was born, kid.

He was borned? Then who's his mommy?

GG is his mommy. Everybody has a mommy.

Yeah. I have a mommy and she has a mommy and you have a mommy.

Yup.

I bet Grandma Susie is in your heart even though she died.

Yeah …

Kids. They say the darndest things.

Someone should make a TV show about that.

Snow art

"I'm throwing snowballs at the stop light."

Quote of the night

"My bottom is burning!!"

Running around the McDonald's playplace while singing Mr. Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire"

My geek is learning to spell

Momma cow.

Octopus.

Lion.

Ghostbuster.

Wolverine.

Captain America.

Awesome

Cheeeeesssseeeee ...

The latest favorite

Fruit Ninja. Watch out for the bombs.

Growing up

Watching her get ready for school this morning, I laughed to myself as she strained to look in the mirror to wipe the toothpaste from her chin. So grown up, yet so far to go.

Then I realized it wasn't too long ago that she couldn't see her face in the mirror.

Then I realized it wouldn't be long before she didn't need the step stool to see what she was doing.

Then I asked her to check her face again so I could save the moment.

Also ...

… because of our little trip up a little mountain – Kaylee now wants to try rock climbing.

At least she did before she tripped on some loose gravel and face-planted.

Luckily, we were already at the bottom.

Can I just say ...

I love my new camera.

Duh

Dad. I wish my tongue had feet.

Yeah? Why?

So it could walk.

Oh, of course. Would you take it for walks then?

No. We have two dogs already.

That would be silly.

Praying for a quiet Sunday

So yesterday was a day.

Kaylee apparently kept asking why I had to go to work (I left the house around 11 am after racing back from a shopping trip) — all she knew was that Daddy had to go make an important newspaper.

That's a good enough explanation I guess.

Just Google it

Dad?

Yes Kaylee?

I don't know why Max ran away from us.

I don't either kid.

And I don't know where she ran away to.

Well I'm sorry, I don't either kid.

Well, you could look it up on the internet.

"Daddy I have no cabities!"

Kaylee's first trip to the dentist was a success — despite some initial trepidation on her part. ("Those tools are hard and scary.")

She was very excited to tell me about her clean bill of dental health, but probably more excited about the "sticker, new toothpaste and toothbrush sticky thing I can put on the bottom of my toothbrush" that she was given for being such a good patient.

So far so good. But wait until she's old enough for them to break out the hook. That hygienist was a miner in a past life.

Tonight's tale

For whatever reason, the kid decided to tell her nightly "Princess Kaylee" story tonight. It is presented here, for your reading pleasure, in paraphrased form:

Once Upon A Time in a land far, far away, there was a smart, brave princess named Princess Kaylee. And she lived in a castle with her Mommy the Queen and her Daddy the King.

Princess Kaylee used her magic to shrink down and go inside her New York snow globe. While inside, she went around New York with her Daddy's friend Andreas. After they had seen all of the city, Princess Kaylee used her magic to grow big again.

But she forgot to get out of the snow globe first and it broke into pieces.

Princess Kaylee tried to fix it with her gentle hands, but that didn't work.

So Princess Kaylee tried to fix it with glue, but that didn't work.

And then her Mommy and Daddy fixed it with nails and a hammer.

The End

Weapon of choice

Kaylee got a gift card for Christmas (thanks Aunt Ruth — we bought dog food with ours) so she was very excited to go pick out her own toys and pay for them.

Pick number one: A Disney princess doll.

Pick number two: A Darth Vader lightsaber.

And the best part? Right before she stabbed me for the first time (actually pictured above), she says: "You are not a Jedi yet."

MAJOR geek points for that one kid.

Four of a kind

When I saw the Lucy and Ethel photo in the background I just had to give you a second bonus post today.

Priceless.

Prince Charming or Spider-Man?

This is what happens when you take a girl who is hard-wired to be a princess and try to raise her as a geek.

Future knitter?

Seeing as how the lesson lasted all of 30 seconds, I doubt it. But she is showing interest.

And yes, she is sitting in the dog's bed.