My Shopping List

Today as I walked into the kitchen, I found Dylan sitting at the table, pen in hand writing on a pad of paper. I asked her what she was doing and she told me she was making me a shopping list.

I asked her what was on my list and she told me the one and only thing she'd written: Cheetos. Yum!

She asked me what else we needed from the grocery store, and I asked her to let me know what she thought we needed. Together we started my shopping list. As we came up with each item she asked me how to spell the word and wrote them very carefully.

Here is our short list:



If you can't read it (which, in my opinion, each of you should be able to) here is what our list consists of:

Cheetos
yogurt
tortillas
milk
vitamins
ice cream

Considering the girl has only learned to write the first three letters of the alphabet at school (and her name) it's not bad for a soon to be 4 year old.

White men can't jump.

We already knew he had no dance skills but the kid also has about a half inch vertical.

If you listen carefully you can hear the back of the ring hit the edge from where he is jumping from.

Brown Shoes

Funny conversation that happened today.

Daddy standing in kitchen on Sunday morning hears little foot steps running down the hallway.

D: Look daddy, these are my church shoes!

Dad: (Looking at little brown shoes) Nice.

D: They are also my jumping shoes.

This is immediately followed by two "JUMP! JUMPS!" and my daughter showing me her 2 inch vertical. Then she runs off back down the hall. This is quickly followed by a loud thump and crying.

Dad: Are you ok?

D: No I fell down.

Dad: Well are those your running shoes or your church shoes?

D: (now smiling) These are my church shoes AND my jumping shoes.

Dad: But not your running shoes? Are they your walking shoes?

D: Huh?

Dad: Are they your walking shoes?

D: Yep.

Dad: How can that be? Are they your church shoes, your jumping shoes or your walking shoes?

D: Huh?

Dad: Are they your brown shoes?

D: Yep.

Dad: So they are your church shoes, your jumping shoes, your walking shoes AND your brown shoes?

D: Yep.

Dad: That is a lot of shoes.

D: Yep...but not my running shoes! (as she runs off).

Back to School

Yesterday was Dylan's first day of school. Man is she growing up! She's going to the same school she went to last year and she was really looking forward to starting again.

She got up early, got dressed early, ate breakfast early and was ready to go early. I, on the other hand, was running late. We got a few "First Day of School" pictures taken and were heading out the door when I remembered I hadn't packed a water bottle for her. I turned around headed for the kitchen mentioning I needed to get Dylan some water, when she informed me (with quite a matter of fact attitude, I might add) that she had already gotten her water bottle, filled it up and put it in her backpack.

As we drove to school she asked me if I was coming in with her, and I told her that yes, in fact, I was. She was not so happy about that. In fact, she asked me specifically not to. I told her I would walk her in, snap a few pictures and leave just as quickly as I came. She finally agreed that it would be okay as long as I left quickly.

We got to school, and instead of holding my hand up the walk to her class, she ran ahead of me, swung open the door, put her backpack and homework where they belonged and sat down at her table and got to work. Obviously she remembered the routine and was ready to get back to it.


As promised, I took a few pictures said goodbye and left. And she didn't even turn around to say goodbye. And truth be told, I'm not even sure she actually said goodbye. I didn't exactly hear it.

Two hours later I picked her up and she was all smiles. It was a great first day and she was thrilled to hear she would be going back again only two days later.

It's going to be a good year.

The End of Summer

I think I still have a few more years before my kids really understand the difference between the school "year" and summer vacation, but today I was compelled to celebrate our last day of summer. I wanted to take the kids to the water park, but I also wanted us to have a nice lunch with grandma and do a little bit of back to school shopping. Unfortunately, because of the hours of the water park, we only got to do lunch and shopping. Dylan may not appreciate it now, but I'm sure that in about 10 years, she'll choose shopping over a water park every day of the week.

We drove over to Kohl's hoping to find that special something for the first day of school. In my mind, we never found the "it" outfit perfect for the first day, but in Dylan's mind, we found plenty of perfectly pink choices. How could I resist when each item was less than $2.50?

After that we headed down the street to Ross and shopped a little more. Again, the pickings were slim, but we found a cute pink and white striped shirt that would be perfect with a pair of shorts she already had at home. We met Grandma at Ross and headed over to lunch.

If anyone asks Dylan where she likes to eat, she gives two answers: Sonic and Paradise Bakery. Lucky for me, we had decided on Paradise Bakery the night before. We had a fun lunch with Grandma and ate cookies too. It was a great way to end our summer.


The rest of the day was spent preparing for the first day of school. Dylan and I decorated her All About Me poster and she went around the house collecting a few items for Show 'n Tell. I spent the better part of the afternoon trying to make them my vision of perfect before I realized that this is all about Dylan. Not all about who I think Dylan is.

If she wanted to use random colors on her poster that didn't coordinate with the paper she had chosen, it's her artistic prerogative. After directing her to choose a few toys that I thought were perfect choices to showcase who she is, she surprised me and found the most perfect choice of all to add to her bag. And more than that, she also decided that she only needed to take these perfect three items, and not the five she was allowed to take. My little girl knows who she is, knows what she likes and isn't afraid of it. I sure hope she stays that way.

Coming up tomorrow: her second "First Day of School."

Quick Wit

Yesterday my mom and I were out and about having lunch, doing some shopping and generally just spending time together. We talk a lot on these outings, about a lot of different things. We started talking about Dylan and about how quick she is.

Now, when I say quick, it has nothing to do with her speed. This is about her intellect, processing and wit. She's a quick one this three year old of mine.

My mom told me about a conversation Dylan had with my sister regarding Isaac, her cousin and playing together. Apparently, the cousin is Dylan's friend, not Isaac's and Isaac was not invited to the next get together, no matter what my sister had to say about it.

As my mom and I talked about Dylan and what a quick little girl she is, we both laughed at just how smart she was and just how fast she catches on to things being said.

Case in point:

Yesterday we dropped her and Isaac off down the street so Todd and I could grab a quick dinner. When we returned an hour or so later this is the story we were told.

Katie's sister (who is an elementary school principal) had come over to pick up her son, and had been introduced to Dylan. She asked Dylan how old she was and Dylan responded, "I'm three." When she was then asked when she turned four, Dylan responded immediately with, "On my next birthday" and turned and left the room to continue playing.

Katie and Wendy told me that they laughed and laughed at her response and that they had never heard a better answer to that question. Wendy then told me that I shouldn't worry about sending Dylan to kindergarten a year early, she'd do just fine.

Apparently the quick wit and sarcasm that Todd and I each possess was passed along to our daughter.