Born at the wrong time... Emma totally should have been a pioneer, she was born about 150 years too late. She has always loved to dress up like this and play pioneer. I was happy to see her dressed up tonight...proof that she's still my little girl and getting all grown up on me yet. She came down like this tonight and told me that she'd already knocked out her Sat. morning cleaning chores, and was all ready to play pioneer tomorrow. I told her "great, what are you going to do". She responded, "I think I'll plant a garden". I told her she may need to wait a few more months on that, maybe let the ground UNTHAW first. Then she said, "I'll make bread then, can you help me? I don't want to use any electrical things, I'm stretching it and punching it all by hand". I told her sure, how could I say no to that?....just as long as she cleans it all up by hand too!! I love the creativity...if only it could be mess-free.

This afternoon, Isaac, in cleaning up blankets for a fort they had made, knocked a Book of Mormon off of the top of the TV (the big hardbound family edition) and it smacked down on the floor. I said, "Be careful Isaac, it'll break and we won't be able to read it anymore". He thought for a sec and then said, "Is it true Mom, are the words all true?" I responded, "Yes Isaac", then he said, "Are the pictures all true too?" I had to laugh as I responded "yes" again. He's too funny. It was Isaac's turn for a daddy-date night tonight. He made a list this afternoon of all the things he wanted to do: 1. Burger King 2. Dunkin Donuts (lucky for us, there's one on every corner here) 3. the gym (to hit at the batting cages) 4. Barnes and Noble. They actually hit everything on the list except for Dunkin Donuts, and hit Home Depot instead. He came home w/an airplane book for Jacob from B & N (that Jacob had begged for earlier in the week when we'd been there for storytime) that he bought w/his own money, $10! He seriously has such a giving heart, he LOVES to buy things for other people! I'm always telling him to save it for something for himself, but then I feel guilty...what, am I encouraging him to be selfish? If he wants to spend it all on other people I guess I should let him.

Lastly, the house remodeling is still slowly dragging along....I love knocking down walls, sheet rocking, painting large walls....stuff that you can see drastic changes quickly with. I HATE all this finishing work, it takes FOREVER! So, take a close look at the baseboards by Emma's feet. They're new this week. And no, we don't just go buy baseboards, not my husband...first we buy the wood, then cut it in half (legnth-wise), then route the wood, then prime it, paint it, then put up the baseboard!! Nothing's simple! Really though tonight we split, routed, and primed in about a half hour all we'll need for the girls room tomorrow. And only spending about $.60/sq. ft. vs. $1.50-$2.00, which adds up fast when you're putting it up on half the house. And its really not even the cost that is driving this DIY, it is the fact that you can't even buy baseboards the size that we need them. This house may be old but it was custom built way back in the day and we are trying to keep the look as consistent as possible. Next is crown molding....sounds a little more complex than baseboards....