A Future Cosmotologist

 Oh Loni...How could you cut your curly locks off? 

It appears that Loni smuggled scissors in her room to wrap birthday presents for herself during quiet time. At some point she also decided that she didn't like long hair (her words not mine) and cut it. It took me a few minutes to realize what she had done. I searched the floor of her room for the fallen hair, but found nothing. Then she revealed her hiding spot. Sigh...Well, at least she was clean about it. Plus it could've been a lot worse. I put Loni in the bath and evened out her hair as best I could. Her new hair-do looks cute, however the curls are gone. 

And I'm sad.  

Band-aids for the Teeth

After days, and weeks and months of wiggling one of Daveo's lower teeth finally fell out. Loni watched on in confused interest. I asked my sweet girl if her teeth will fall out like Daveo's. Her shocked reply has me smiling:

"Nooo! I'll have a band-aid to keep them in!"

Exciting and New

Loni is very creative with our pumpkins. She cracks me up, keeping life exciting and new. 

Bangs and a Dead Girl

 I gave Loni some bangs this week. We are all in agreement that she looks even more adorable (if that was possible). During the conference, she spent a good part of the time drawing with the new gel pens I bought in her new flower notebook. I commented on one picture saying that I loved the girl in the colorful rain. Loni looks at me and says a little annoyed, 'Mom! She's dead! Look at her eyes. It's not funny!" Ha! Ha! Made me laugh because I have never seen her draw a dead person before. Didn't even know she knew what dead meant. 

Dandelions

Some see weeds. Others see wishes.

Balloon Tennis

While living in Texas, I served as a den leader for about 5 years. Justin, James, and Steven all went through me before becoming a Webelos. As a cub scout den leader, you have to have lots of creative activities to keep those 8-9 year old boys busy. One such game that the boys loved was balloon tennis. The rackets are easily made using metal coat hangers, nylons, and duck tape. This week I resurrected this game and taught it to Daveo and Loni, the next generation. They loved it as is evident on their faces.

A Princess

She calls herself Princess Loni.

Plop

A picture is worth a thousand words...

I have 4 words for this one:

I HATE POTTY TRAINING!

Even thought Lonetta has been potty trained for a few months now, going number 2 is still difficult for her. She will hold it for about three days. Then, on the fourth day she has to go so bad, but will still delay the inevitable for many hours. Each time I force Loni to sit on the toilet to do her business, she screams bloody murder. Sometimes a nice warm bath speeds the process along. In the end, we are both exhausted once the package has finally been "plopped". Loni even takes a nap on "poo days".

Pink and Florals

Lonetta has her own sense of style. She has recently learned how to dress herself. This results in mismatched outfits, but how can you find fault with one so cute. It is not uncommon for Loni to change her clothes three times in one day; and you'll never see her wearing pants. This girlie girl will only wear dresses or skirts with tops. Basically her happy place is when everything is pink and floral.

Are You Smiling?

Lonetta found a crane fly in the kitchen this morning. She's usually very curious with bugs, but not with this one. I tried to reassure her by explaining that crane flies are nice. After taking a very close inspection of it, she vehemently disagreed. "No they're not! They're not smiling!"

Egg Hunt

Our ward had it's annual Easter egg hunt/breakfast at Lone Hill Park.

The tall grass made for a perfect spot to hunt. Daveo disappeared with friends, so I missed getting pictures of him. 

Loni Scissor-hands

One of the many ways of keeping Loni entertained while I do school with Dave-o and Kirsten. This girl LOVES scissors! 

A Break in the Weather

 California has been blessed with so much rain. Governor Brown (puke, puke) is expected to declare the drought to be over in a few days. Today, we finally had a couple of hours with a break in the weather. Dave-o played with some neighborhood kids on the trampoline, while Loni played Superman. She splashed in the puddles and even saved some worms from drowning. She's such a good superhero. 

Santa Impersonators

 Santa is still a very popular person in this house. 

A New Year

Two exciting things happened at church today. This first day of the year 2017 has already brought changes in the form of growth. Steven was ordained to the Melchizedek priesthood. Loni started Sunbeams! She is the only one, so the primary is combining her with the CTR4 class. I substituted that class today and had so much fun. They were so cute, fun, and well behaved. Loni did great! In the beginning of primary, I was holding James Jones because he was sad when his mom dropped him off. He sat in my lap with Loni sitting beside me looking very worried. Several times she told James that I was her mommy. 

After church Mom and Dad Zinn came over to have dinner with us. It was the perfect beginning to the year.

An Angel

 Lonetta has traded in her red Superman cape for Angel Wings. 

For now.

California Snow

While putting clean sheets on Lonetta's bed, I heard her shout, "Look Mom! It's snowing!" I followed her gaze and smiled as I saw her "snow" was really dust particles floating in the sunlight that was shining through her window.

A Family

Loni loves to draw while I do school with Dave-o. She usually sketches balloons and rainbows. But today she surprised me with people; and not just any people. Some of her family was drawn with her little three year-old hand. 

Visiting Santa

I took Daveo and Loni for their annual visit with Santa. Dave-o was so excited to tell him what he wants for Christmas. However, Loni, didn't want to have anything to do with the jolly man with a white beard. She shakily held onto my neck so tight repeating, "I hold you mommy." In the end Santa let the two sit together on his chair while he read them a story. Loni was a little less apprehensive with this arrangement. While walking to the car afterwards, Daveo asked Loni if she liked Santa. She said, "Yes! That was so much fun!" What a psycho girl.

Dress-Up

Loni has discovered "playing dress-up", thanks to the numerous princess dresses in the upstairs game room. If she is wearing wings, than Loni says she is Tinkerbell. No wings, and she is Princess Sofia.