Sparklers In Her Ears

Tori has been very busy as well, with the end of school approaching. She worked hard and made her AR goal, testing on two books in one day. She has been doing well on her spelling tests, acing some of them when I was certain she wouldn’t. She had fun on her field trip days--thanks, Annie for going. She is looking forward to third grade and being the big sister for Eli.

Tori has grown up a lot this year, and she just got her ears pierced to prove it. She was going to wait until her birthday, but we decided to just do it. She was very nervous of course, but there was no way she was leaving Claire’s until she got them done. She picked out birthstone earrings, held my hand and went for it. One ear, a minute or two, and then big tears. The other ear, and more tears. Two minutes later, the tears were gone and she was picking out earrings to wear six weeks from now. She loves her new earrings and her new jewelry box, and she, not me or Huts, has been caring for her ears. She is very careful with them and very diligent in washing them. The result? Her ears look good. Only five more weeks of diligent care. Then, we’ll see how careful she is with new earrings. Bet she loses a ton of them.

What A Mess

Tori can make a mess of her room in no time. Last night, her dad got tired of tripping and told her it was time to clean it up. Now, we’ll see if she listens. She has selective hearing and tends to forget the things she does not want to hear.

Tori has become a good reader, and she is inching closer to her AR goal. She thought she was done, but her teacher misread the report. She has 1.9 points to go, or 4 short books or 2 long books. I read a book to her this morning. Hopefully, she will take a test on it very soon. She seems to be liking the chapter books, so maybe she will bring home another one of those. She’ll get there.

22 Days and Counting

Tori started off this morning at school with a meltdown. She was tired physically and did not feel like she could bear another day of school. Lucky for her, she is in the home stretch. I reminded her there were just a few weeks left, and she smiled. Then, I told her to go show Ms. Lynn her latest boo-boo, a big red splotch on her forehead. She was zooming along yesterday on her scooter when she hit a bump and fell face first. Apparently, they were playing a game where they were running out of gas with zombies behind them. I felt bad for her, but at least it slowed them down.

The weekend went by fast. Tori played a lot with Eli outside and a lot with the kid next door. He is Christian’s age, but lately, they have been worlds apart. So, Tori plays with Matthew, looking at stuff on the iPads and playing games on the trampoline. Christian, it seems, has gotten too old for that. Eli also like to join them, shoving Matthew around and yelling at him like he was his brother.

Sleep Over

Tori has been invited to a birthday sleepover this weekend. No doubt she will wake up early on Saturday morning and drive us all crazy waiting for 5 o’clock to roll around. It is at the babysitter’s house with her granddaughters whom Tori adores. Now that they are all in school, at different schools with different schedules, the girls do not get to see each other much. So, this is a BIG deal, and Tori is sure to remind us of that. We have already gone shopping, and Tori found Kylee a Monster High doll and journal. We've got it wrapped and ready to go. I am sure she will bring some other Monster High dolls with her so they can all play.

Tornado Tori

Tori can be quite the tornado, destroying her room in minutes. She loves to pull out almost everything she owns and create houses, towns, etc. There will be piles all over her floor, and because her room is so small, it is difficult to walk around without tripping on something. Some days I am fine with the mess. Other days I get fed up with falling on stuff. Last night I had had enough, and amazingly, Tori cleaned up her room without complaint. And, she did a great job! She put things away rather than stuffing them under something else. Now I can get in there with the vacuum cleaner.

Meltdown Over Videos

We’re getting ready for a yard sale in May, and last night, I sorted through items and priced them. Of course, I had to ask the kids about some of the items I had pulled. Tori was good about everything but some DVDs. She had a cow when we asked her to look at those and go through them. The tears flowed, too much, so I told her to leave it be. She could keep them all. She settled down, and before I knew it, she had gone through her collection of videos and pulled some really old ones that she had no desire to see. Then she was off and running, helping me to separate all of the toys into bags and price them.

In spite of her occasional meltdowns, Tori has really blossomed this year. She is a bit ahead at school and is starting to move into older things. Her current favorite is Monster High. The dolls resemble Barbie dolls in size but come from monsters, like Dracula and Frankenstein, hence Draculaura and Frankie Stein. Her favorite is Laguna Blue, daughter of a sea monster. She also likes Ghoulia Yelps, a zombie who does not talk. She has several of the dolls, plus the school. She has also turned her dollhouse-shaped bookshelf into a Monster High home, complete with Abby Abominable’s bed.

As for the LaLaLoopsys, well, they have kind of been put on the back burner. We are not sure if she has tired of them and is past them, or will return to them this summer. She has them all still, many undressed, so maybe one day she will play with them and her Loving Family dollhouses again.

Big Sister

Eli had a rough night yesterday, but lucky for him, Tori was there. She has been his buddy lately, and when he came downstairs crying about feeling so lonely upstairs, she went up and sat with him. She watched a movie with him and stayed with him until he fell asleep. What a lucky boy to have a good big sister to watch over him. Good thing Tori will still be around at school next year. Christian is off to middle school, and Tori will be in third grade and ready to pave the way for Eli. Eli knows it and even mentioned to me that Tori could help him at school in the bathroom—well, not exactly, but at least he knows his sister will be there.

Sleep Over

Tori loves sleep over's.  A few weeks ago, she was invited to 2 sleep over's in 1 weekend.  Unfortunately, she was too tired after the first sleepover to go to the 2nd.  We rescheduled the 2nd and now Tori is returning the kindness having Shaylee stay the night on Friday night.  

Tori is already making plans on what they will be playing, but she's constantly changing her mind.  The girls love playing together and they love playing with the cats together.  Squeaker and Jr. better hide away.  

Hopefully the girls will sleep in.  We plan on taking them to Jillian's to play games and lunch on Saturday before we take Shaylee home.  Tori will need the time to recuperate and need the extra sleep.  

Doll World

 Tori ended up with a lot of dolls, Monster High dolls and LaLaLoopsy dolls. She has 61 mini LaLas, 24 big LaLas and a dozen or so Monster High dolls. Somehow we managed to find a place for all of her dolls, but it was not easy. She has been playing with them for days, taking them to and from the sitter’s. The dolls are getting one heck of a workout.

Box Girl

With the holiday season here, we have received a lot of packages recently. The kids tear into them, and then Tori likes to collect the boxes. She colors on them, glues things to them and uses them for her dolls. Right now, she has a stack of boxes higher than her head. We've had some clashes over the boxes, mainly me needing them and her not wanting to give them up. I took one box, and that led to a big fit and timeout for Tori. With Christmas coming up and Santa watching, she has decided that she will let go of the boxes very soon in order to make way for toys.

Speaking of Santa watching, we have been reminding the kids of that often. The tactic does not work on Christian. He knows who Santa really is. It does work on Tori and Eli, very well in fact. Last night, the two were fighting upstairs when we reminded them that Santa was watching. Tori was mumbling something about refusing to play some game with Eli. Huts yelled out Santa was watching, and we heard this exasperated groan, followed by “Dang it!” We burst out laughing, and it was some time before we heard any further grumbling.

Just 1 More

Tori had a great weekend with the kids that came up for Thanksgiving. She did not have a good time shopping. She was very disappointed to find out that the stores were picked over. She was hoping to find Trouble Dusty Trails, the little sister of Prairie Dusty Trails, LaLaLoopsy dolls of course. But there was no Trouble to be found. She was so disappointed I found her one online. It should be here in a few days, and then Tori can start making plans for the sisters.

So, my mom wanted to know if Tori really played with all of these dolls. Yep. I’ve seen her dress them all up and sit them behind shoebox desks while she teaches them in front of the chalkboard. I’ve seen her put them to bed and cram them into dollhouses. She rarely plays with just one. It is usually three or more. Poor Patch Treasure Chest, a boy, is wearing a sassy purple dress right now.

Long Day

Tori got up bright and early this morning without a complaint. She was ready in a flash, all in pink, for her day of fun with the girls at the sitter’s. She had two big bags of stuff to keep everyone entertained and her little brother, to boot. Eli seemed very pleased to have his sister along on the ride. No doubt they will tucker out around 9 tonight after 9 hours of play.

Both are excited about the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and the pie and cookie baking. They are also looking forward to getting the Christmas stuff out. Huts and I can’t remember what we have and don’t have, so it should be a surprise to us as well.  I keep saying we are doing to do the outside up right, but who knows. The woman across the street has us beat whatever we do. Her yard is covered in Christmas decorations!

Wiped Out

Tori made it to both friends’ this past weekend. Shaylee had a sleepover, and Tori came home happy but tired. She went to Brianna’s on Monday for a few hours for a birthday party playdate. She came home happy but really tired. She got a second wind, but woke up really tired this morning. Huts gave her a bit of caffeinated soda to pep her up on the way to school. She told me she wanted to go to bed early tonight. She must really be tired if she is suggesting that!

This weekend there is nothing on the agenda, and Tori is happy. She knows that we are cleaning house and preparing for Thanksgiving, and she could care less. I doubt there will be any moping about boredom this weekend!

Lalas to Come

Like her brother, Tori is looking forward to Christmas. She has targeted dolls this year, Monster High dolls and LaLa Loopsy dolls. She asked for Venus Flytrap, Spectra Vondergeist, Abby Abominable and Operetta Monster High dolls, plus their school. She asked for Harmony B Sharp, the first LaLa to sing and dance, and Bea Spells-a-Lot and her little sister, Specs Reads-a-Lot. Santa has done some shopping, along with Grandma Marie, and this is definitely going to be a doll year for Tori.