Adventures in "StoryVeale"

So, I've got this kid. Her name is Mikayla.

She's turned into a she-demon. Granted, she's got a bad case of the snots right now and is full of grumpiness, but that's not what I'm really talking about.

She's mobile. And strong. And she has a large appliance fetish.

Take the dishwasher.

If I dare to open the dishwasher to load or unload the necessary culinary items, she hears the creak of it and bolts into the kitchen. Within moments she's perched on top of the open door, crowing and banging her chest in joy.

It does not matter how many times I pull her down. She gets back up. It's like crack, she can't walk away.

My only choice is to leave the dishwashing for the evenings. The stink of food is all the baby's fault.

And the refrigerator!

Despite the cold on her tootsies, she climbs right up inside! There she is, belly up to the celery and eye level with the egg carton, getting colder by the moment, but, still!, she beelines to the refrigerator as soon as she hears the vacuum seal break in opening.

This morning she was quicker than me. I heard Maggie open the refrigerator for a piece of string cheese and I moved to the kitchen myself.

Mikayla beat me there. She was already in the refrigerator, having elbowed Maggie out of the way.

She grabbed a carton of Yoplait, tucked it under her arm with a finesse that would please any Monday Night Football quarterback, and headed to her hidey-hole, under the table in the living room.

I rescued the Yoplait. But it was hard, she had a pretty good grip on it. And get this - when I opened it, she didn't even want a spoonful!

If you have any advice, please let me know. In the meantime I'm keeping the small appliances locked away. Blenders and chainsaws would not be a good combination.

You may have heard Maggie turned 4.

It was a big day. In fact, she kept asking and asking if she was four yet and telling me about the things she'd do as soon as she was 4.

She hasn't followed through really well on those but today she did take it upon herself to change Mikayla's poopie diaper. Which was promptly followed by a bath, but hey, I've got to give the gal kudos for trying!

Her birthday involved family, good friends, a trip to the fair and a BBQ that was rained out.  Good times!

Maggie was very prepared for the trip to the fair - Mia gave her those sunglasses.

Maggie had her hands up for most of the roller coaster ride - you can see she was terrified. :)

She got a little slap happy as the day wore on.

Her father thought she needed birthday camouflage. That's the frosting from her specially-chosen Tangled birthday cake.

What girl doesn't love new clothes?!

I love that we can still see a hint of the baby in the face of our big girl.

I wrote a special note about this milestone on StealingFaith.com, you might want to take a moment to read it if you haven't already.

Assignment: Draw a picture that represents our family.

Result:
We're a family of Book Pilgrims: the women wear books as hats and the man, well, he's a balding guy with a hotdog body and sausage legs.

Mia: Daddy, I'm sorry I drew your hair and legs like that. I'll do it different next time.
Isaiah: Thanks.

Best part of this photo - I'm skinnier than my children. Which is SOOOO not true, but I'm going to take it as a win.

Found some more photos ;)

Sometimes I can still see the baby in Maggie & it makes me nostalgic.

Mia's eyes have always been captivating.

See the dirt around her mouth? Yep, she eats dirt. It's good for her.

Cousin Aspen - now that girl has gorgeous eyes!

Auntie Sami hiding in the brambles.

Uncle Geoffrey forged the first path - he's a brave pioneer.

OK, so maybe the adults are more excited about picking blackberries than the kids.

Yep, I like picking blackberries. Lots. With my pink princess bucket.

This is our favorite group of girls - can't wait for the 5th one to arrive! (Aspen's sister)