Andrew's Loud Mouth and Snakes

Loud Mouth
Last night I was in the kitchen fixing supper and I had a question for Phil. Thinking he was just in the next room, I raised my voice some and asked the question. No answer. I didn't know it, but he was actually in his study. Not wanting to look up from what I was doing I said, "Umm... hello?" No answer. Andrew, who was sitting at the dining room table watching me, shouted at the top of his lungs, "DADDY! MOMMY IS TALKING TO YOU!" I then turned around and realized Phil wasn't even in the room. After hearing Andrew yelling, Phil came to see what I needed. I asked the question, Phil answered, incident over, right?

Wrong.

When Phil left the room again, Andrew spoke up. He said, "Mom, you have a quiet voice and I have a loud one. My mouth is really, REALLY loud. So if you ever need anything you tell me. Everyone can hear my loud mouth. It's really, REALLY loud."

Snakes
A few days ago Andrew was having spaghetti for lunch. Suddenly he thoughtfully looked up and said, "Snakes, when they die, they go to the factory and are turned into noodles."

You Rock My World

I was very productive today. I wanted to get my husbands Valentine's Day card made and I needed to make a card for a little boy in our church who is turning 7 this weekend. I was able to get both done before the kids woke up! Miracle, huh?

My husband totally rocks my world! He is so special to me! It is so hard to believe we have been married 8.5 years. Where has the time gone? Phil is a huge Elvis fan. One day last fall when I was catching up with my friend's blogs I noticed my friend Sarah (SCS Sairabee) had an awesome Elvis card. I emailed her to see if she could send me some images. She did! She is so awesome! (Check out her blog sometime. She makes really incredible cards!) Well, then we moved and the images were lost in my stamping mess. I was able to locate them and come up with this card today.



Paper: SU Real Red, Black, White
Stamps: Elvis (no clue where it is from), Textured Eighth Note from Hobby Lobby, SU Merry Minis little music notes, Hero Arts Playful Alphabet
Accessories: Music Notes Ribbon from Hobby Lobby


This next card really isn't anything special. I just needed to whip up a quickie.


Paper: SU Wild Wasabi, White, Blue from Hobby Lobby
Stamps: Jeep foam stamp I found on clearance at Ben Franklins a very long time ago, SU Wonderful Words
Accessories: Blue and Green Gingham ribbon from Wal-Mart, Cuttlebug Happy Birthday embossing folder

My Hobby

I hope my readers won't mind, but I think I may begin to make this blog not only my family blog, but my stamping blog too. I love creating cards and I just want to share my creativeness!

I do most of my stamping while the kids are taking their naps. So I only have a few hours to complete a project. Here was today's card.

My fellow stampers, if you don't already have the 3 step Hearts & Roses by Kitchen Sink Stamps, I highly encourage you to get it. It is one of my favorite sets to play with! Here is a link to their gallery for this set. Lots of fun ideas!

In this card...
Stamps: Kitchen Sink 3 Step Hearts & Roses, SU So Many Sayings
Paper: The Paper Studio Rose Garden, SU Garden Green Cardstock, SU Certain Celery Cardstock, White Cardstock
Ink: SU Certain Celery (stamped off), SU Garden Green, SU Mauve Mist, SU Pixie Pink
Accessories: SU Hodge Podge Hardware, Finishing Accents Rhinestones, 3/8" Pink Ribbon

Thanks for looking!

Time Flies When You Have Busy Children

Can you believe it has been three weeks since my last post?! We are still alive, I promise. The kids are constantly keeping us on our toes.

Andrew is amazing us. As of late he has matured greatly. He is always thinking. Last week he asked if anyone had moved into our old house in SD. I told him no, they were still waiting for God to send a pastor to do what daddy used to do. You could just see his mind working as he tried to process that answer. Later that night at supper he asked if he could pray. His prayer was so precious! He asked God to hurry up and send someone to do daddy's job at his old house and church because they need somebody.

Carole is still Carole. She is FINALLY completely potty trained and for that we are thankful! She is our high maintenance child. If the house all of a sudden gets really quiet, we know Carole is doing something she shouldn't be doing. Just last night I caught her with another crayon! As for where in the world that thing came from, I have no clue. ;) Carole may be our trouble child, but she sure makes my day when she wraps her chubby little arms around my neck and whispers in my ear, "I yuv you so much, Mommy." Then she looks up at me with those big blue eyes and I know I would not EVER trade my trouble child for anything!! She is a gift from God. God is using her life to make me into a better person. Apparently He thinks I still have a long way to go in the area of patience. LOL!

Phil has been busy here. He joined our local volunteer fire department and has begun taking Firefighter 1 classes. He is gone two nights a week for nearly 3.5 hours. So between balancing his church responsibilities, fire training, and his family, he is a very busy man!

As for me, I have finally gotten back into my hobby. I spend most of naptime creating greeting cards with my rubber stamps. Here are some of my latest. (If you click on the picture, you can see them bigger.)
Andrew is into Batman so much lately. He has never seen the movies (except the old 1960 something version). He bought a "Batcave" with his Christmas money. He thinks he is Batman! He says, "I'm Batman!" Carole replies, "I'm kitty princess!" When I was shopping last week I found this mask at Claires in the mall. I had to get it. Now she is a true Kitty Princess!
















Cute story... Phil had the kids yesterday as I had a doctor's appointment and a whole day to myself to go shopping! It was a much needed break for me!! Phil took Carole with him to visit a couple in our church. Apparently they had some good toys! Phil then picked up Andrew from school and the 3 of them went to McDonalds. What a fun day for the kids!

Last night we sat down for supper and both kids wanted to pray. Phil ended up going first and then he whispered for Carole to go next. This was her prayer... "Dear Jesus, tank you for today. Tanks for wetting me go to McDonalds today. And fanks for going to the missus house to pay toys. I yuv you. Amen!"

At this point, Andrew was crying because he had to go last. He cried during his whole prayer. So this was his prayer... "Dear Jesus. Thank you for the food. Pease help me to stop crying. Amen."

Here is an extremely rare happening at our house. The kids usually are constantly fighting with each other over EVERYTHING! One day they played nicely together with Andrew's Batcave for almost an hour. I almost fainted! *wink* My babies are growing up.

Our Crazy Girl

So...
what do you suppose Carole was doing while I was writing that long post about the crayons??


Check out these pictures.






























While she was taking her bath I went to get her some clean clothes in her room. I opened her underwear drawer and found none. She owns 10 pair. I then remembered that I had hidden them all somewhere. Why? Well, she is a girl. We all know that some girls like to change their clothes a million times a day. Carole is one of them. She liked her Dora and Princess panties so much that she was starting to pee in them on purpose just so she could put on a different pair. So I hid them in her closet. She stayed dry all day today too. ;o)

While she was in the tub I got into her closet to get into her secret stash of panties. They were gone! I was thoroughly confused. So then I thought maybe I had hidden them somewhere else and just forgot where I put them. I spent next 10 minutes looking in spots where I, personally, would have hidden them. After no such luck, I then knew something was amiss. Carole must have found them. I then began to look in her toy kitchen things.

Do you see them in this picture? No???













How about now?












Yep, all 9 of her panties were stuffed into this anti-bacterial wipe container. ;o) She had raided the recycling pile again.

Aaahhh! Life with Carole. Never a dull moment.

The Colorful World of Crayola Crayons

Crayons, crayons, crayons.
Crayons over here, crayons over there.
Crayons in the day
Crayons in the night.
Oh, when did crayons become such a fight!
Everywhere I look there is one peaking out
Under the bed and under the couch.
Just when I think the crayons are no more
In comes some more like they are walking through the door.
Crayons, crayons everywhere!



Okay, so I am not a poet. ;o) But seriously, I have had quite a time with those lovely little things called crayons.

A few days ago I gathered all of the kid's clothes to do their laundry. (Can you already tell where this is going?) I have always washed their clothes separate from mine and Phil's because it is easier to sort them that way. Anyway, I washed and dried the first load. As I was taking them out of the dryer to fold I noticed the first item of clothing. It was a pair of Andrew's pants and they had some lovely blue green streaks all over them. I examined them closer only to discover that it was crayon. I turned the pair of pants over to discover more streaks up and down the legs. My mind was going a million miles an hour. Where did the crayon come from? Which kid did it? Will it be on all the clothes? What am I going to do if it is on all the clothes? At this point and time my heart was beginning to hammer in my chest. I slowly reached into the dryer and began to pull out another item of clothing. Yep. Crayoned. And another. Yep, that one too. EVERY SINGLE ITEM OF CLOTHING IN THAT DRYER HAD SEAGREEN CRAYON MELTED ON IT! I was livid.

The kids were in bed for the night, so that was good. ;o) Poor Phil came downstairs looking for me. He found a mad woman flinging toddler clothes all over the laundry room floor. I looked up, saw him and said, "Look at what your monsters did to all of their clothes! Ruined! Millions of dollars worth of kid's clothes!" (Not really, but it sure sounded better to say it that way.) He just stood there stunned for a few minutes. When he "came to" he turned around and went right back upstairs. Good man. He knew there was no point in saying anything. I probably had smoke coming out of my ears.

It took me awhile to calm down. Scrubbing a whole load of clothes with stain out can be VERY therapeutic. Once they were all treated, I threw them in the washer to be washed again and went upstairs to go to bed. Then the thought hit me. GET RID OF ALL THE CRAYONS! So instead of going to bed, I ransacked the house for all of those wonderful colors. I had decided, that if the kids wanted to color they will have to ask first. Then they will be allowed only a few crayons and they will have to stay buckled into their booster seats at the table. Satisfied with my new plan, I went to bed.

The next morning I was pleased to find out that most of the clothes came completely clean. There were a few items of clothing that just wouldn't come clean. I spent the morning calling my mom, my mother in-law, surfing the internet, and asking my SCS friends for ideas. By noon every item of clothing was clean and I am now an expert at crayon stain removal.

But would the crayon madness end there??? Nope! Phil sent Carole to her room that day for a time out because she was being disrespectful. When I went in to get her I had discovered that a crayon magically reappeared. She had colored her door, her walls, her window, her toy kitchen, just about anything that had a smooth surface in her bedroom. It was all the same color, meaning it was just one crayon. Apparently one crayon escaped my grasp. I made her scrub her things clean with Mr. Clean's Magic Eraser. She thought it was fun. I thought this incident was isolated and I for sure had all the crayons now.

Boy was I ever wrong. These kids must have had a secret stash of them somewhere! Yesterday morning I went down the basement to get something and I discovered the playroom floor and been scribbled on. I figured it was Carole due to her artwork in her bedroom the day before. I didn't think much of it because I was going to make her clean it up. She likes scrubbing things anyway. Before I came upstairs, Andrew came down looking for me. I asked him if Carole colored the floor. He hung his head and said no. He then looked up at me with his big, sad brown eyes and said, "I did it, Mom." I have to hand it to him. He finally told the truth! I couldn't get mad at him because I knew how hard it must have been for him to admit that he had done it. Normally he pins EVERYTHING on Carole. I calmly told him he had to clean it all up. I brought down a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and told him to get to work. He scrubbed for nearly an hour and was only halfway done. I snuck downstairs to get him for lunch and this is what I heard.

*scrub, scrub, sob*
I can't do this.
*scrub*
I need help.
*scrub, scrub, sob, sob*
Why did I do this?
*scrub, scrub*
What was I thinking?
*scrub, scrub, sob, sob*

I then poked my head around the corner and told him to go get washed for lunch. He came running with tears streaming down his face. "Mommy, I am so sorry for coloring the floor. I forgot crayons go on paper. I'll never do it again." Break my heart!!! I am sure he will never do it again. I think he learned his lesson the hard way.

With only half of the floor scrubbed, Mr. Clean bit the dust. I told him that he would have to wait to finish the rest until we got more Mr. Clean Magic Erasers. I made it clear that his work was not done. So today I made him go with me to town to buy more cleaner pads. We came home and he went right to work. He was in good spirits and his sister even joined in on the fun. After all she loves to scrub! And no, the floor is still not clean. He will be made to work at it a little everyday. ;o)






And what did Mommy learn from all of this??

1. Check the pockets of EVERYONE'S clothes before washing them. Not just Phil's. ;o)
2. I will never have ALL of the crayons in my grasp, but I sure aim to try!
3. Kids sure are a lot of fun when you aren't mad at them. LOL!

The Purpose of This Blog

I received an interesting email today. This is a quote from it. "Young people have the propensity of 'me, me, me' as evident in your 'blog'." Apparently this person has COMPLETELY missed the point of this blog. My dear friends and family, as you are well aware I started this blog over a year ago for the sole purpose of keeping you up to date with our growing family. We live so far away from our dear families and only get to see them once or twice a year. We hope that can change since we have moved further east. That being said, this blog was my way of allowing our family members to stay connected with us visually with pictures, occasional videos and of course funny stories about the kids. This blog IS about our family and that is what is was created to be. The kid's great grandparents (whom they see once a year) consider themselves blessed to stay connected with their grandkids.

So if you are frequenting this blog in hopes of getting ministry updates, that is not what it was created for. Our ministry updates come in a form of a prayer letter. If you are interested in receiving this letter, please leave a comment.

Thanks for visiting our blog! Our children are VERY special to us and are a COMPLETE GIFT FROM GOD. If you know our story, you know that is true. God has blessed us greatly!!!

Merry Christmas!

I am finally getting around to posting our Christmas pictures. This year we stayed home and had a nice quiet Christmas with just the four of us. It was so much fun watching the kids be so excited about everything.

We had a Christmas Eve service at our church and it was lovely. I wish would have taken a picture of Andrew holding the candle during the candlelight service. He was so in awe of everything. Following the service a bunch of us went caroling to a couple in our church family. The wife just had surgery and was very disappointed that her doctor told her to stay home and recuperate. She was shocked and thrilled when 25 people from her church family showed up at her house on Christmas Eve night to sing carols to her. We also brought a birthday cake for Jesus, which we all shared together. It was a special time for everyone there.

This is Carole all dressed up and ready to go to our Christmas Eve service at the church.

And here is Andrew all dressed up and ready to go as well.

The princess had to make a pit stop on her throne before we vacated the castle. Potty training is going so much better! She takes herself to the potty now and has very few accidents.

I captured this moment on camera a few days before Christmas. They both snuggled up together to watch "Santa Claus is Coming to Town."

Many of you know that we had limited space in our moving truck when we moved here. I had to leave my couch and love seat behind. I had no problem with this because they were very uncomfortable to sit in and were used when we got them. Also, our new living room here is much smaller and they would not have fit. Thanks to my Grandpa and Grandma, I have a new couch! They gave us money for Christmas and we used it to buy our very first BRAND NEW couch. Phil was able to pick it up before Christmas too!

Christmas day was a lot of fun. Andrew got up first. He was more concerned about whether Santa had found the cookies he left out for him than he was about opening presents. He was happy that Santa had indeed found them and even left a note for him. While the kids were waiting for breakfast they got to peek into their stockings. Carole loved getting her new tiara. Andrew got several things he liked, but was concerned because it was not what he had asked Santa for. He said, "Mom, I told Santa that I wanted a batman!" He proceeded to shake everything out of his stocking and said, "It's not here! Santa messed up!" I started laughing. Phil calmly told him not to worry because there were still presents under the tree. Andrew replied, "I know, Dad, but those are from YOU not Santa and I told HIM I wanted a Batman!" LOL!

Santa brought our princess her very first tiara and earring set.

Here is Andrew opening his present from Uncle Chris and Aunt Susanna. It was a Batmobile! It turned out to be his favorite gift of the day!

Andrew enjoying his new batmobile.

Here is Carole opening her favorite present of the day. A new princess quilt for her bed!

As soon as it was opened she dove under! She LOVES her new "pincess" bed.

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

It has been awhile since I've posted so on this very cold day I thought it was time to update you on this family of four. We have been experiencing some VERY cold temps here so in return the kids are getting a touch of cabin fever. And you all know that when a kid gets bored they tend to do things they know they shouldn't. Enough said. Pray for us! :o) It was -12 here today with 30-40 below wind chills!

Here are some pictures of them killing the time but not getting into trouble. They sure can be creative.

Carole has been into princesses lately. So in turn, she thinks she is a princess. Daddy and Mommy think so too. Well, most of the time. LOL! Andrew is always running around declaring, "I'm batman!" One day out of the blue Carole replied, "I'm Kitty Princess!"

Here is the princess trying to get her royal dollar store shoes on.

There was one day when the temperature actually made it into the 20's. So we bundled the kids up and let them play in the snow. We got 10 inches one night, so there was plenty to play in.

Here are a couple of box heads. In a moment of boredom, they raided my recycling pile a found a couple of kleenex boxes that made some nice hats. Creative, huh? And yes, those are my slippers Carole is wearing. ;o)

Last week Andrew had his Christmas program at preschool. It was hard to get good pictures as the lighting was not that good. So this picture is a frame I froze from a video clip I took. He was a VERY good shepherd. He had a hard time standing where his teacher wanted him to, but he sang so well!! His voice over powered the other children, not in a bad way, but more so because he actually knew all the words. He was so proud of himself and so were we!

And what does a 4.5 year old do to keep himself busy in church? Put stickers on his eyes! His Nana got him a dinosaur sticker book for his birthday this past year and today he found the eye stickers. And of course, Mommy had her camera with her! ;o)

I Have Been Tagged!

I have been tagged by my old college friend, Ann-Marie, and I have to follow the rules.
Here they are...

Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their name as well as links to their blog. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. I have never been tagged before. After Ann-Marie tagged me, I was tagged on facebook by someone else. All in the same day!

2. Ann-Marie and I met when we were seniors in high school. We were both visiting Moody Bible Institute for the weekend. During our college years I set her up on a blind date. She was a champ to go through with it. She is now married to the guy! ;o)

3. I love living in a really small town.

4. I am in the middle of potty training my 2.5 year old, strong-willed daughter. It is going well except for the fact that she has poop phobia.

5. My favorite saying is "this too shall pass."

6. God is not through with me yet. I still have so much to learn about relying on Him and being patient.

7. I love rubber stamping. My favorite thing to do is to lock myself in my craft room and create greeting cards for others.

I tag:

Mandy S.
Ruthie
Sarah
Mandy C.
Laura
Sabrina
Linda

I Spy With My Little Eye

While we were eating supper tonight Andrew asked if we could play "I spy with my little eye." I said okay and he began the game.
Andrew: I spy with my wittle eye someting gween!
Phil: Your peas!
Andrew: Ya! Your turn, Daddy!
and the game went on, then suddenly Carole interrupted.
Carole: My turn, my turn!
Me: Okay, let's let Carole have a turn. Go ahead, Carole.
Carole: (beaming ear to ear) I spy with my wittle eye sumting iceceam!
Phil: Is it icecream, Carole?
Carole: Yay! Daddy got it. Your turn, Daddy!

LOL!!!!!!

O Christmas Tree

Tonight we put up our Christmas tree. I had bought the kids matching pajamas for Christmas a few weeks ago. I thought it would be cute to get some pictures of them decorating the tree together in their new pj's. They sure had a lot of fun. We are having a hard time getting Carole to realize that once you put the ornament on you are to leave it on. I think I may have all of my hair pulled out by Christmas. ;o)

This picture was taken right after they put their new pajamas on. They never hug each other like this!

Here they are digging in the ornament box trying to find just the right one to hang up next.

Carole took this decorating business very seriously. Everything had to be just right. Well, for a few seconds anyway. Then she would take it back off and put it somewhere else.

Andrew had a great time! He took his job very seriously too.

Here they are posing in front of their work with great pride.

Singing, Giggling Andrew

Andrew will be in a Christmas program at his new preschool on the 17th. For this he has to learn several Christmas songs. One of them is "Away in a Manger." Enjoy!

Carole's Favorite Christmas Carol

Her is a short video clip of Carole singing her favorite Christmas song. This is her version of the chorus. :)

New Picture

Yesterday, to my great surprise, I was able to get a good picture of the kids before church. I have always tried to take their picture every Sunday, and lo and behold I finally got a good one. I decided to use it for my Christmas card picture this year. I sent it to my mom and she doctored it up and gave it a nice snowy background. Believe it or not, but the background is a picture she took of their yard last year.
Thanks Mom!! ;o)

Kleenex Disaster

So I went in to go to the bathroom. I came out and noticed that Carole was unusually quiet. I went to investigate and this is what I found.

I said, "Carole, what are you doing?"
She said, "I have boogers mommy. Baby has boogers too."

She emptied a box of 250 kleenexes!!!

When I'm a Man

I realize it has been a LONG time since I have updated this blog. In the last entry you may have seen boxes behind Carole. You guessed it. We moved. The last few months have been a whirlwind of activity for us. We found out we were moving to a new field the end of September. On October 28th we arrived at our new home in IA and have been busy settling in and getting to know our new church family.

Since then Andrew thinks he has grown up and become a man. That is his new favorite thing to talk about. It seems like all I hear is ... "Mom, when I grow up and become a man..." Today he was hilarious! Very serious, but hilarious! We were all sitting around the table for lunch and the conversation went something like this...

Andrew: Dad, when I am a man will I still live with you?

Phil: No, you will move out and get your own place.

Andrew: Will someone give me a car?

Phil: No, you will buy your own car with the money you earn from working at your job. You might also be going to college. Maybe you will fall in love with a pretty girl and get married.

At this point in the conversation I was in the kitchen loading the dishwasher and I happened to look up and notice Andrew had tears forming in his eyes and his lower lip was quivering.

Andrew quietly answered: I will miss you, daddy.

Me: Andrew you don't have to move out now. You aren't a man yet. You get to live with mommy and daddy for a long time.

Andrew: Okay. Mommy, where do you buy cars at.

Me: At a store that sells them.

Phil: Or you can buy someone's old one that they don't want anymore.

Andrew: Can I buy your green car, Dad?

My handsome little man!

I Yuv You, Barney!

Today Carole got a new Barney. She has been singing his praises since. Here is a video of her singing to him. Enjoy!

Andrew's injury

Friday Andrew had his first dental appointment. We found out that he has a cavity. Phil and I are both shocked at this news because he never drinks juice and he doesn't care for sweet things. Wierd. I am 30 yrs old, LOVE sweet things, and still have no cavities. Strange.

Anyway, after his appointment we went to Mitchell to do some shopping. We stopped at our first store and Andrew fell out of the van on his head. We have no clue how it happened and neither of us saw it. He always gets out by himself. When I first saw his head I freaked out. It LITERALLY looked like someone inserted a golf ball in the side of his head. I quickly ran into the store and received an icepack from the first aid kit at the service desk. The poor kid screamed for nearly 20 minutes. For Andrew, that is very rare. I then decided we had better get him to the doctor to check of a concussion. It looked SO BAD! I seriously thought they would admit him and do a CAT scan on him. When we arrived at the doctor's office he was starting to perk up. By the time we saw the doctor, the swelling had gone down considerably. I was so relieved. He checked out fine and the doctored instructed us to wake him up in the middle of the night to make sure he was okay. She wanted us to ask him questions to see if his brain was still working. Andrew is a hard sleeper so this was especially funny. Here is how the conversation went...
Me: Andrew, wake up. Mommy needs to talk to you.
Him: Hmmm.
Me: What is your name?
Him: Andrew
Me: How old are you?
Him: 4 (at this point he was getting annoyed)
Me: Who am I? Who is holding you?
Him: (confused look) Carole?
Me: Open your eyes Andrew. Who is holding you?
Him: Groan. Mommy?
Me: Can I look at your eyes?
Him: No (he wouldn't even crack them a centimeter)
Me: Andrew I need to see if your eyes are sick.
Him: I wanna sleep

LOL! It was easy to tell that he was fine. He was instantly back to sleep when I quit talking and the next morning he remembered nothing.

So he made it through his major head injury. As if the poor kid had not already had enough head trauma, the following day the neighbor kid hit a dirt clod with a bat and hit Andrew right in the forehead. I think he needs a helmet. ;o) Here are some pictures I took of his head Friday night. The swelling had gone down a lot. The golf ball was no longer visible.

Carole LOVES kitties!

Carole loves kitties a lot. I guess she is a little like her mommy used to be. This picture was a special one for me to be able to capture. Buster is an old kitty who does not normally tolerate Carole's cuddles. My brother gave us Buster when we got married in 2000. He was already 6 years old then. So now he is 14 yrs old. In human years, Buster is 72 years old. I don't think he has very many years left. I will always treasure this picture.

This is Carole dressed and ready to go to church this past Sunday. I found that jumper at a Goodwill in Michigan. It is a size 5. *shock* She really is a big 2 year old. ;o)

Saturday we had a Garage Sale (in our case it was a slab sale). It was very difficult to manage a sale and keep an eye on Carole. She surprised us though. For about an hour in the morning she sat on the couch and colored and watched TV and never moved. That was very rare for her. Lately she is in to coloring every single page of her kitty notebook. She scribbles, turns the page, and scribbles some more. I will buy her 100 more notebooks if that means it will keep her out of trouble! ;o) LOL