~wiggles~

We waited ~very~ patiently, with only three-fourteen-twelve-hundred-six reminders about when the Wiggles concert would arrive. And, yesterday, we got to go. Kenzie was so excited, that she couldn't even fake an early nap before the show... so she went napless. And, it ended up being a very pleasant experience (the naplessness -&- the Wiggles).



Unfortunately, we took our point and shoot camera as we'd read that no cameras were allowed at the show. We figured we could sneak that one in, but probably not our much larger camera with detachable lens. I'm still kicking myself over that one. Everybody had a camera and everybody was using them. And, as result, we really have some poor pictures - as we've totally forgotten how to use our point & shoot.



We went with another family. The gals are exactly the same age - born five minutes apart!! The other family scored us all free tickets, so that made the concert - even better!



Kenzie is a Dorothy the Dinosaur fan, and we brought roses to feed her. We also picked her up a Dorothy hat, and a tail souvenir. She slept with the tail last night, and has worn it ever since....

I think Kenzie was a bit star-struck at the concert. She didn't dance as much as I thought she might. Either she was quite tired or absolutely -- mesmerized--.

This & That

This weekend passed in a nice relaxed pace, as they usually do. Kenzie did a bit of this...



and a bit of that...


I found another child friendly recipe at: Maize's website . So, while Daddy was sleeping in on Saturay, we created Cheesy-O's as a chaser to breakfast. It was yummy, and tasted best while warm & toasty. I had intended to distribute it in little bags as a Calculated Acts of Kindness (CAOK) treat to the kids in the neighborhood - however, I did determine that it was going to go stale fast. The weather did not support an immediate delivery - so we ended up eating most of it ourselves. Does that qualify as a CAOK? (i.e. making a calculated decision to not pass out stale treats?? :)



This artwork will be one of the layers in little handmade notes that we are preparing to mail to our family, reminding them that we love them & that they are in our daily thoughts. (another CAOK idea, which of course - we should be doing on a regular basis!!)

Calculated Acts of Kindness

We'll be taking Kelli's lead and practicing Calculated Acts of Kindness. I don't know if I'll be able to post our accomplishments with any consistency, but I think it's a valuable thing to do with the Kenzie-girl. We've got lots of ideas all based in simple generosities. Some will be artistic, some will be just thoughtful gestures, all will be based in the sentiment of teaching my young daughter universal grace, kindness and goodwill.



The point is (in Kelli's words):
The idea is to plan good acts during the next 40 days and to do so with a “pay it forward” attitude. By simply starting with the little things — holding open a door for a stranger, helping a neighbor with their trash cans, complimenting the woman who makes your coffee every morning — we can make our world better.

One person at a time, we are conducting a campaign of calculated acts of kindness.
Won’t you join us?

And, just because posts are prettier with pictures:


Kenzie (the puppy) licks her daddy.

A special treat:

What kid doesn't love frosting? Big blobs of concentrated sugar??



Doug received a gift of one of those large cookie greetings at work. Atop the cookie was massive globs of frosting in primary colors & - black. Kenzie munched happily away, poking the frosting balloons with her fingers and forking it right into her mouth.



Shortly thereafter, she began "washing" her hands in the colors - fully tinting them in this loud blackish mess. In a moment of glee...she laid both hands on her cheeks, leaving these perfect prints on each side.



Shockingly, she consumed very little of this treat before we called the party to an end. She was whisked into the bathroom to rinse off the remains of the celebration. A panicked mother exlaiming "Don't. Touch. Anything." all the way. She was rather pleased with her art.



A special treat so sweet... followed immediately by a toothpaste chaser.

Snow bunnies

Today, we woke to a gorgeous sunny day (or so it appears out our windows). Immediately, this morning Kenzie began asking repeatedly to go outside for a walk & to play. I kept telling, her that we needed to wait for it to warm up a bit more. Finally, after whine #32567, I caved.

Our yard is still filled with puddles of this:



And, it's filled with even more puddles of cold slushy mess:



This is about how many jumps it took before she decided it is too cold & we should go back in.



1.........2.......3...4..DONE!

A long wait...

We got some exciting news last night. A friend of ours got FREE tickets to the Wiggles Concert in two weeks, for both families. Kenzie & Mia are ecstatic. Since then, we've heard countless inquires - already - about "can we go to the Wiggles concert NOW??" She can't get the Wiggles, their songs, readiness for the concert - out of her head.

Here she painfully waits for the results of our "experiment" this morning (adding food-coloring to flower water, in order to -hopefully- dye the flowers):



Here's what happened yesterday when I turned my back for two seconds.... after Kenzie had made Jello and waited for it to be ready for HOURS:



As evidenced by this gal's (& any toddler's) need for instant gratification - it's gonna be a looooong two week wait for the Wiggles. A wait filled with pained expressions such as this one (accompanied by a whiney "puleeeeeeeeeease"):



I wonder if the wait..or the actual concert... will be more painful for her parents???

Us

This isn't a particulary good picture, but documents a really sweet moment between Kenzie and I. I want to rememer it.

A love story:

This past Sunday, while driving in the car - I was holding hands with Doug. Kenzie took note and became somewhat ~ angry. After telling us that "she did not like that" and to "stop that!" - we explained that she was feeling "jealous" and that she shouldn't be upset that "mommy & daddy love each other." We were headed to her Nana & Poppy's for our weekly dinner together. At dinner, Kenzie reached over - took Doug's hand - and thoughtfully exclaimed that she was holding it because "we love each other."



Today, not being a huge fan of Valentine's day (commercialism, you know?) we did go to the library for story hour and enjoyed a Valentine's inspired session. After coming home, Kenzie and I worked to set up our dinner for tonight -- making it special I explained: because Valentine's day is about "loving each other."





We created a card for her daddy. Our mailbox has literally been frozen closed for a few days, & I knew that the traditional Valentine's cookies that my mom sends us each year - were probably in there. Just in case, we created some chocolate "pupcakes" too. Heavy on the frosting.



Fortunately, it was sunny despite the snow and our mailbox thawed enough that I could open it. We've collected all the Valentine's treats from the mail and set them at the side of the table. We'll open all the goodies tonight at dinner.



Kenzie got a real kick out of setting the table. I let her pick the candles, directing her to pick us some pretty red or pink ones. We settled them ALL in the center of the table - even the flip-flop & hula dancer floaty candles!!! She also set out the placemats and napkins. While fluttering her hands around in the air (which is what she does when she's excited) she was exclaiming -- We need forks. (!!) And spoons. (!!) And food. (!!!!) Can I eat the pupcakes now???



Valentime's Day. A(nother) day that is only special: Because we love each other.

Challenging my intelligence..

Today, began another one of those conversations with my gal that makes me wonder about the best approaches to explain the concept of a "world" to her. Everything is so egocentric in our immediate space. How do you explain the bigger picture?



While playing with her rather large assortment of plastic people, cars, animals, etc., Kenzie began rapid-firing questions at me:
"Mama? Where do the lions live?"
"Mama? Where do the pigs live?"
"Mama? Where do the dogs live?"
"Mama? Where does the dolphin live?"
..the monkeys? ...the giraffe's? .................



She barely paused for a breath, let alone to allow me to answer. I started off by feeding her general answers like - "at a farm, in people's houses, in the jungle, in the ocean." She responds with questions like: "Mama, where's Africa?" "Where's the jungle?" "What's a safari?" She knows where the ocean is -- it's in San Wiego!!! But I realized very suddenly - that my child no longer wishes to accept these simple answers. She has no real perception of what a farm is..what a jungle is...where Africa is...etc., and therefore, I hadn't really answered her first barrage of questions at all.



As we were playing, I started collecting toys that might explain this better than my words were. A toy map, a tree (for the monkeys), a farm. And, then I tried to help a toddler understand that there were many different places to live, but that they all are part of the "world."
I'm a Dummy.



She seemed to consider these explanations, but of course the reasoning was lost on her. And, then by chance - she picks out a toy dinosaur. She put him in the farm. I breathed a sigh of relief as there was no question attached. I wouldn't have had a clue how to explain that one....

I'm gonna have to give some thought about how to address this next time it comes around. Because it will. Hopefully I'll feel smarter after our next conversation like this????

Nuts, bolts, and no potato stamps

I found Colorfool recently and quickly made note of several ideas of things I'd like to try with Kenzie. Potato stamps were the first project borrowed from this wonderful Mama, which we played around with on Friday. I used some safari cookie cutters and cut giraffe, elephants, horses, and other animal stamps within the potatoes. I also did stars, and made a smiley face stamp. Kenzie had some fabulous fun with them, but it quickly turned into a schmear fest and a full-blown fingerpainting session. Aye, aye, aye (fingerpainting is not usually allowed upstairs in main living area). We contained the mess, and had a great time.

What? No pictures? Nope. I know I caught some most excellent pictures - but my camera and Mac decided that they no longer wanted to cooperate with each other this weekend. We worked them both over, lost the pictures, and are just gonna move on. Darn. I also loaded Kenzie's digital camera, and found this picture:



Judging throm the archives of pictures she's taken on her own camera - this seems to be her favorite scene to catch.

Tonight, after a mexican restaraunt, we ventured over to Home Depot to let Kenzie burn some energy by running amuck through the aisles, and because I wanted to borrow another idea from Colorfool. Mini-puzzles made out of nuts, bolts and plumbing bits.



A parent assembles.



She works to take them apart, challenging her motor skills:



Kenzie adores puzzles.
$9.00 in hardware.
...two minute increments of peace for Mama = priceless.

One warm(er) weather day...

Kenzie and I took advantage of a slight spike in temperatures the other day and spent some time out in the sun. I evidently misunderstood the weather report for the week after hearing the weather guy exclaim that he had a "pleasant surprise." When he followed that up by describing a warm weather surge, I erroneously assumed that this might mean...more than one freaking day! Nope, we're back to frigid weather, and eagerly awaiting another dose of the warmer stuff.

On my Mama's Doodles blog, I shared these letters yesterday that I embellished for Kenzie's room. I was secretly thrilled that she rushed her grandparents right up there today to show them off. That's always a good sign that I did good. She seems really proud of her big girl room. It's quite motivating to me, as we still have a few more projects to accomplish before it's complete.



Finally, I think I've changed my mind -or at least delayed my decision- to make this blog "private" soon. I've archived the email addresses needed for blog permissions in the event that I do move it. But, at this time - Kenzie's doodles will remain public. Thanks for all your replies, emails and kind cheerleading though.

Kenzie's wax-paper & crayon art

Well, it seems that the majority of folks coming here are not coming out of adoration for my daughter. It's craft ideas! Who woulda knew? I have a bachelor of fine arts (BFA) in Art Therapy. That, and my past work with kids is where the majority of my creative ideas stem from. When the well of ideas occasionally runs dry, I pirate ideas from Kiddley. There's lots of good inspiration to be found at Kiddley.

At least during the wintry months, which find us hibernating, crafts will continue to be a good part of our day. We began this project last night, during dinner. Kenzie's a BIG help in the kitchen, so this was a good distraction. :) Having a fair supply of broken crayons - we used a pencil sharpener to shave bits away. We just let them drop as they would on wax paper. This took awhile - and is a good task for kiddos developing their eye hand coordination, fine motor skills, etc. Be mindful of a pencil sharpener if it has an semi-exposed blade though! One for kids is best.



When finished, we layed a second layer of wax paper over the top and popped it in the oven for a minute or so. After it cooled - we had this:



This morning we cut shapes out of the art. We'll make some valentines cards out of the hearts. We decorated our windows with the hearts. I desperately wanted to string them on some ribbon, but Kenzie's all about taping things. We also had some left over bits, so Kenzie told me what shapes to cut & I obliged. Presto. This project is very simple and can be expanded in so many ways.

In awhile Crocodile...

First - thanks to all of you sending your email addresses. I had NO idea Kenzie had such a following. :) A statcounter reflects a good number of visitors - but I assumed that most of them were here on accident while shopping for Kenzie brand clothes!! I've just switched to the new version of blogger and was surprised at how easy it was. Now, I'll be fiddling around with the permissions issue.

I also thank you for all the compliments on my parenting ideas, creativity, etc. It's been so nice to "meet" you. And, two of you suggested I write a book??? Um, Really? Anyway - I'm flattered beyond belief. And, I should also remind you - that our little blog world here depicts the good, the pretty, and the sparkly sunny days of our life. Rarely do I share the nitty gritty hard stuff - or even the utterly boring sitting on the couch watching TV stuff. Believe me, it ALL happens at Kenzie's house.

Sam's (a mom of 2.5 yr. old twins!) comment from the other day made me giggle - I think it was the only one I've published lately. Sam, Sam, Sam... I have ONE child. If I multiplied her times two - there would be no way on this green earth that I would ever hand her a paintbrush unless I'd wrapped everything in Saran wrap first. Somewhere, below - I posted a picture of poor Kenzie painting in a BOX. A box, Sam. You give me toooooo much credit! Someone also said that she calls me the "Mommiesorie" (as in a montessori school). Seriously. Kenzie's watching half of the Jungle Book right now, "ONE MORE TIME?" before we return it the library. Why only half? Not because it would behoove me to limit her to half a movie's worth of TV viewing. It's because the movie is scratched and stops halfway through!! Really though. I am flattered by the comments/compliments. But, they made feel a wee bit guilty... I'm a good mom. I am! But, maybe not quite as good as all those comments said I am.... Thanks for letting me fake you out though.

Anyway - Meet Kenzie's new friend. Waaaay back in sunny Southern California (oooh, how I miss sunny So. Cal), I made Kenzie a stuffed owl friend. One fateful flu ridden night, she yakked on it. This little guy was made as a replacement for the ruined owl, after hearing her mention the owl on several occasions recently. I tried to fancy him up a bit, now that she's older and small bits and bobs aren't so much an issue for choking hazards.



All I can say is...she's not a fan. Guess he'll join the collection of handmade mommy junk that sits around collecting dust in her room.

We got to a tiny-tots fitness class every week. We usually close the class by chanting some of the following sayings. Kenzie and her father have been dismissing each other with the "See you later, alligator," etc. saying for a long while now. We are having such a blast with the additional phrases, and are on to making up our own. It took me a long while to find the whole list on the internet - but here they are:

See you later, alligator.
In a while, crocodile.
Bye-bye, butterfly.
Give a hug, ladybug.
Take care, polar bear.
See you soon, raccoon.
Out the door, dinosaur.
To your house, little mouse.
Not too soon, you big baboon.
In a blizzard, little lizard.
In a shake, garter snake.
Time to scoot, warty newt.
Don't meander, salamander.
Hit the road, hoppy toad.
Bye-bye, butterfly.
Be sweet, parakeet.
Give a hug, ladybug.
See you soon, raccoon.
Out the door, dinosaur.
Stay well, gazelle
Not now brown cow
'Till then penguin
To your house, mouse
Manana Iguana
Take care, polar bear.
Give a kiss, jellyfish,
Take a bow, brown cow
So long, King Kong.
Toodle-oo, kangaroo.
Bye bye butterfly.
See you soon raccoon.
In awhile crocodile .
Toodaloo kangaroo.
Out the door dinosaur.
In a line, porcupine.
To the bus octopus.

When Doug heads off to work each day now, we are all tripping all over ourselves trying to remember another one to shout. My favorite is:
"Give me a hug, doodle bug.."

My February Blues

Foul weather, fading Christmas memories, failed resolutions and a lack of motivation conspire to depress. Oh, my least favorite month of the year has begun. Our first winter back in Kansas is wearing on me... I've got a sore case of missing California, and it only seems to get worse as the cold days keep presenting.

The excitement with the first snow & outdoor play have worn off. We've had enough of the library, of shopping, of fitness classes, inside crafting days - all the novelties have worn off. I've never been an outside winter play kind of gal, so my inclination is to hole up inside. I've lost the enthusiasm even for being productive and doing household improvements. I'd really just like to bundle up with a blanket, cover my head and wait for spring. But Kenzie doesn't so much agree. Lucky for me, she still finds charm in the simplest of {silly} activities.

A hodge-podge of bad photos follow (Heck, I can't even catch great photos in the poor indoor light):

Stuffing animal friends in her shirt and then dancing them out. & again. & again...





Hanging out with her best Elephant friend:





Drowning wooden clothespins in paint:



Breakfast oatmeal in front of the fire with daddy:



& Just spinning through the days like she hasn't a care in the world....



Thank goodness for the optimism of a toddler.