Snowman and Other Pressures

Well another fun-filled week of yet again...snow. At least this time it was the nice packable, snowman-makeable snow. When I woke up last Friday and realized that I was not taking Makenna to school, I resolved to finally get out and make a snowman.

But first...some cleaning...with some help. Even though it slows me down in my process, I'm grateful she's showing interest in cleaning (as brief as it may be,) as I know the day will come without fail that she will no longer have an interest in any tasks I ask of her, especially when it comes to cleanliness.

Then on to making our snowman. I figured it would be easier to do it on the porch as there was plenty of snow up there that I had to clear anyways. You can see that I didn't go with the traditional "ball" of snow for the bottom, middle and top. It wasn't for lack of trying though. I'm just out of practice.

So it ends up looking more like Jabba the Snowman than just a jolly snowman. We used the "lion" hat we got in England for Makenna, Rocks for eyes and mouth, carrot nose (at least that's keeping with tradition,) and a scarf made by niece Brittanie.

We then decided on a fashion show and changed up hats. Now sporting the old-man farmer look is jabba the snowman:

When we put on Makenna's usual snow hat and gave it more of a modern look (if you can call it that):

I was actually quite proud that we did it until Chris came home and mocked the whole thing. Not to mention that we made it so that when you look out the sliding glass doors onto the porch you see it. Later that night I realized this was not such a good idea as you see something staring back at you in the dark.

The next day (Saturday,) was a birthday party for cousin Eli (who turned 3) and his sister cousin Abigail (who is going to turn 1).

I had to get this picture as it was so adorable....like the wisdom of the wise being passed down and intently listened to by the young (grandma Grosek 101 to Natalie who will soon be 2).

Pinata antics

The candy drops and mayhem ensues

I love how they're holding hands in this picture. Makenna truly loves her cousins, especially her cousin Eli...because he's the only one who does as she says.

Chris helping Abbie to exercise her walking feet:

Makenna actually took this picture and I had to laugh as it's Eli covered in chocolate:

As a last note, I realize I must be putting too much pressure on Makenna to be prepared for Kindergarten. She talks about it every week (if not every day,) about how she's going to be going to Kindergarten. I told her that we have to practice her zipping her coat (not really the zipping part as she can do that, the part where she has to put the zipper into the base to get it started,) and to tie shoes, due snaps and buttons and wipe her butt when she poops. I told her that no one at school is going to wipe her poopie butt so she's got to get better at it.

Well, this past week she's just about mastered the zipper part and happily states, "Yeah, now I can go to Kindergarten." As for the last graphic bit (pooping and wiping)...well this is where I realize the pressure is weighing on her mind. She came into the bathroom this week while I was going the bathroom and she said, "Mom, if you need help wiping, I need the practice so I can go to Kindergarten." I laughed and let her know I was good but thanks for the offer.

I guess it is true, the pressure on kids today is a lot more than when we were kids~