Lest you think that we have misplaced the girl-child, be relieved. She is still very much alive and well. We do actually take pictures of her too. They just aren't all quite as charming this week! It's the teenage years....which seem to have struck a little early here in South Carolina. It might be those hormones in milk or meat or something like that that I read about!

Anyway, there have been a few endearing moments. A few! She had her first experience bowling this past weekend with her preschool friends! What a hoot! The balls were really hazardous to bouncing little 5 year olds, and the shoes were not quite cool enough, but they were so cute cheering each other on. I think Katie's score (with the bumpers up) was 58 by the 6th square when they lost interest in it and began to dance! She would have you note the lip gloss! I think my favorite part was the cheering and the high fives, which were shared for every toss of the ball! They considered actually carrying the ball to the line worth celebrating. Getting it to roll down the correct lane without stopping part way was cause for celebration again! I had never observed anyone using the "kick the bowling ball" strategy before this day! Katie was succeesful in using the lime green ball each time, since it matched her skirt! That must have helped the score! There is so much to learn from an almost-five-year-old!

Ok - so here is my Katie Quote-of-the-Day. I bought a pinata for her birthday party, which is in a week. She said, "Mom, how are you going to get stuff in there? Are you going to bash it up and put stuff in and then tape it back together?" I said the same thing I always tell her when I don't feel like explaining something - "I'll just use my awesome powers." At this point, she believes in my awesome powers still. So, she sneaks the empty pinata out of the kitchen to play with it and then I hear her yell from her room a few minutes later - "Mom - good news! You don't have to use your awesome powers. There's a hole in the back!" Oh phew...