All Planned Out

Tori is looking forward to the ski trip so much that she plans it out a little each day. This morning, we were going skiing and swimming at the waterpark at the same time. Who knows where we will be doing tomorrow. She thought we were going away this morning, but that wasn't the case.

When?

That's what Tori wants to know about Grandma and Grandpa. When are they coming up? Tomorrow? This weekend? This month? Lucky for us, my mom is coming in a few weeks. Tori cannot wait. Grandma will get to see all of her toys and her room. Get ready, Grandmas. Tori is gonna drive you bonkers!

Princess Tales

Tori has taken to telling us Princess stories in the car. She is the yellow or pink princess, and the rest of us are other colors of princesses, kings, knights, and dragons. Annie is always the Purple Princess, and Christian and Eli are knights. Huts is the king, and I am either the queen or the witch. Sometimes, Eli gets to be a dragon. Dale always plays multiple roles, while Stella is usually a princess. The tales are long and wind all over. Who knows where Tori will take us today in her tale.

Better

Tori is better, but who knows how long that will last. She is surrounded by sick brothers. Tori has been quite the card lately, enjoying the fact that Eli is a captive audience. She sings for him, plays with him and twirls around for him. She also plays peek-a-boo and jumps around him on the bed. He smiles and laughs at her. They are two peas in a pod, until Christian gets in on the act. Then the fighting over Eli's attention begins. Tori hates it when Eli pays more attention to Christian than to her.

Dressed To The Nines

Tori left this morning wearing her new red and white shirt with large gems on the front and her sequin shoes that look like they have seen better days. The pants were way too big, so she wore an old pair of black pants. She thought she looked beautiful, and that is all that counts. On another note, she is potty trained. She has only had a couple of accidents and goes by herself without any problems. She beats the boys in this area, hands down. As Huts said, "That's it?"

Tori The Tryer

Tori loves to go and do. What exactly you ask? Well, everything. She wants to go skiing, swimming, swim class, to see grandma, to church and most days, she doesn't want to go home after she gets picked up from the sitter's. This usually causes a lot of drama as she starts bawling when we tell her that we are going home. This spring we are enrolling her in something...anything so she can do something. It'll probably be swimming class, gymnastics or dance class (or maybe underwater tumbling dance if they had such a thing).

She is already looking forward to skiing and swimming next month. I showed her pictures of the water park in the hotel we were staying at and she had to show her Mama how great it was. She was ready to go right then. Unfortunately that won't be for another month. I don't think showing her pictures of the place will satisfy her desire to go go go before then.

The Go-Go Girl

We are taking a little trip at the end of February, and Tori wants to go right now, as in yesterday afternoon. She was disappointed to learn she had to wait and cried when we went home to eat rather than out. She does not like sitting at home; car rides, no matter how long, are her thing. I can't wait to send her on a plane ride to see Uncle Sam sometime. That should keep her attention.

Tea Party

Tori and I had a tea party last night with all of her dolls. We started the evening at the dollhouse, but that soon got put away in favor of the table and big dolls. We ate play cupcakes, tomatoes and vegetables. We also drank play tea. Christian joined us at some point and served as Christina, much to his dismay. Eli dropped by too, so he could play Ella.

Dollhouse

Tori got her dollhouse, and she and Christian played with it much of the day. Uncle Dale put it together for her, and she had great fun squishing the twins into their swings and high chairs. She has no idea that more dollhouse stuff is coming. She is going to have a full house. Tori also got a whole slew of Little Pony things, a movie theater, carousel, roller coaster, ice cream shop, etc. She has five or six ponies and all kinds of things to do with them now. Lucky girl!

Going To Grandma's

Tori is now enamored with staying in the hotel on Friday night and going to see Despereaux with Grandma this weekend, or so she thinks. Christmas still does not compute with her, though perhaps it will when she unwraps her dollhouse. I have moved her table into her room to hold a Little Pony carousel she is getting, and she has decided to use the table and chairs for her dolls. She puts out cupcakes and tea cups and they all have a tea party. Even her big brother joins in on the fun. I wondered when she would decide to throw a tea party.

Bitten By the Travel Bug

Tori doesn't care about Christmas at home. She wants to get into the car and go see people. Everyday she asks me when we are going on a trip. I will be surprised if that girl doesn't do something for a living that involves travel. She went a short trip today, to the dentist to have a hole in tooth she was born with filled. Annie took her and said she was good.

Poor Tori. She lays awake at night telling herself stories and gets up cranky from too little sleep. She is a total night owl like her dad. Christian, Eli and I are early birds. We like to rise with the sun and wind down with dusk. This does not spell good when Tori starts school and has to get up and get going early on in the day. Maybe the excitement of being at school will be enough too motivate her.

Friday with Mom

That is what Tori gets. She was sad yesterday about Eli getting the morning with his dad at the doctor's office, so I offered to keep her home on Friday so we can clean house together and take care of some other things. She is looking forward to dusting with Mom. Wish me luck. On another note, she has been making major progress with the potty training. THis weekend I am putting her in panties to see if she can get through the day without having an accident.

Miss Carol

My friend was Tori's teacher at church, and she loved up to her big time. She talks about Carol quite a bit now and will be surprised to see a new teacher this Saturday night. Carol trades off teaching with another woman. I hope Tori likes her just as much as she does Carol.