April 2 Kate turned 4. If I didn’t know better I would say she turned fourteen. She is a blast and has a mind and a style all her own. She gives new definition to layering and her body temperature seems to regulate in a way that makes it suitable and tolerable to wear a sundress in the winter. I have learned over the past year and a half with her desire to dress herself that it is best to “just go with it” and heck it’s not a bad idea to contribute. Contributions and her creations most often put a smile on my face – while on the inside I’m laughing and wonder WHAT WAS she thinking.

Kate is a happy kid. She likes to sing and dance and yell and whine and play “Mom” and and “hair” baby everyone around her. She loathes cleaning and will typically talk her way out of it day in and day out. Right now the only thing that motivates her is telling her she can’t use her hair trinkets until she’s cleaned everything up… she’s a tough nut to crack that way. Reilly tends to be the trouper and absorbs some of her stubborness to help her clean – and to show her gratitude she usually snags something he’s playing with and antagonizes him to the point of screaming or hitting. (NOTE: and he ends up in trouble b/c we only catch the screaming and hitting part)

For Kate’s birthday we kicked the boys out of the house and threw a “Blue Tarte Party”. Kate had four girlfriends over (since she’s four) and each of them had to wear blue – as did their Mom’s. We had blueberry belgian waffles and blue pedicures and we painted a trunk blue (and pink and green). We all wore blue beads and blue bracelets. Kate dictated this color because she had an outfit she wanted to wear – see for yourself: