Super Ali and Princess Kaitlyn

Even before our son was born, we pretty much decided that his pet name would be "Mr. Max." And, since October 3rd, I've probably called him "Mr. Max" at least once per day, if not more. Well, this afternoon I thought, "We really ought to have a superlative for each of the children." At first, I suggested "Super Kate" but it didn't get any sort of reaction from either Alison or Kaitlyn. So, I thought about it a little longer and announced "Super Ali" and "Princess Kaitlyn." Ali immediately started running around the room making webslinging actions with her hands and telling me that she was using her super powers to freeze me. Kaitlyn beamed from ear to ear and started nodding her head in agreement. I think I got it right.

Ali told me an interesting joke through the door this afternoon:

"Knock knock."
"Who's there?"
"Me."
"Me who?"
"Me going to tackle you."

I could hear her jumping on the bed while she told me the joke. Sensing, perhaps, that she had given away her devious plan, she immediately said, "Don't remember that."

It was an interesting Valentine's Day this week. Ali has been looking forward to Valentine's Day for almost a whole month. Not because of the treats or because of boys--but rather because she has been stamping individualized Valentine packages for each person in her class. She started by asking each person his or her favorite color. She then made an envelope out of that color construction paper and wrote each person's name on the outside. Then, she cut, mounted die-cuts and stamped (with Megan's help) a "coloring" page for each person. Each person also received 2 crayons for coloring. Ali kept track of everything on a big sheet of paper on her clipboard. It's almost like she's witnessed Megan's party planning for 5+ years.



It was more than her whole backpack to take all of these things to school!

Now, here's the difference between Ali and Kaitlyn. By 4:00 p.m. on the 14th, Kaitlyn had already plowed through the Valentine's Day candy we had given her. All that was left was a couple of sucked-on Kit Kat bars. Ali, on the other hand, hadn't touched it because she really like the crafty, decorated can that Megan had made for them and put it all in.

Both girls got new shoes this week. (Don't get Megan started on how her kindergartener had to have Sketchers-brand shoes that light up when you walk.) Kaitlyn wanted to be like Ali and have shoes that lit up--but she wanted them to be more dressy. What she ended up getting were shoes that look like white buckle Sunday shoes, but that have a sole more like tennis shoes.

This evening it seemed like there was an overabundance of noise. Kaitlyn was walking around banging a metal dishing spoon and a plastic stirring spoon together. She was also yelling or singing something, probably. I asked her what on earth she was doing. Her response? "I'm making music."

Also this evening, I walked into my bedroom and found Ali sitting in front of Microsoft Outlook on my laptop that I had left up. I walked in as she was scrolling up or down. I asked her was she was doing. She answered, "I'm reading your email." Sure enough--she was reading an email from Mary Lee summarizing Grandpa's talk at his ward over Christmas. She said she picked out that one to read because she knew who it was from.

Now, I just hope I can remember to call them by their "appropriate" names.