And dressing alike is in the details

Dorothy and Willa like to dress alike

The necklace was a prize at the Christmas parade

In Willa's playroom

The Sunday Funnies

When Dorothy and I bought her adorable Dumbo stuffed animal at a toy store, I told her, "I wasn't leaving the store without that Dumbo."  Dorothy was curious about this turn of phrase and we referenced it all day.  When her grandparents came to visit, Dorothy showed Grandma her Dumbo doll.  "Tell her what I said about Dumbo," I urged her.  Dorothy shared, "This is a toy in this store that we can afford."

Brian and Dorothy dressed-up to go on a daddy-daughter date to the ballet.  Dorothy chose a Christmas dress, and Brian showed Dorothy his striped Christmas socks.  "Dad, I think you should roll up your pants so your socks will show," Dorothy advised.

Uncle Daniel, Aunt Valerie, Alina, & Andrew came to Savannah for an early Christmas.  We were walking around the yard, and I picked-up a tennis ball and handed it to Dorothy.  "Here," I said, "Andrew will like to play with this."  "Oh, fetch!" Dorothy enthused.

Just a girl and her new LOL Biggie Pet Surprise

Dorothy class took a field trip today to make clay ornaments

Dorothy Long Legs

We get funny, kind of sarcastic smiles a lot now.

Willa turned 5 on Sunday and we went to pancakes

Photos by Caroline Archer (III)

To see all the photos that Caroline took, see DorothyJane.Shutterfly.com

The Sunday Funnies (the t.v. version)

We saw an ad for Pillsbury canned products on t.v.  Dorothy said, "Oh, they use those for croissants.  We use those for bananas... monkey bananas... banana balls... I can't remember."  She meant monkey bread.

We were watching a movie on the making of Disneyland, including Pirates of the Caribbean.  Dorothy, thinking back to our trip to Disney World, said, "Oh, the ones we saw were real people in costumes, but the ones there are machines with voices."

An AFLAC commercial came on and talked about insurance.  Dorothy said, "Oh, I see, they said 'deductible' because there's a duck!"

Photos by Caroline Archer (II)

Photos by Caroline Archer (I)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Again this year we kept a "thankful list" and each night at dinner named something we're thankful for.  Two years ago Dorothy offered answers like "this egg", but this year she got more broad and more sappy (mostly).  Here is her list:

• You & Daddy
• Willa
• LOLs
• My Grandma & Grandpa
• My Gram & Big Daddy
• Disney World & meeting Tinkerbell, Ariel, Belle, Rapunzel, & Tiana
• My daddy's & your good cooking -- my daddy's pop yellow eggs & your soft-boiled eggs
• My teachers & my school & the kids in my class
• Food that people make for me in restaurants
• Marble videos & Super Monsters
• Me & my mommy & my daddy working hard to set-up the Barbie house.  I'm also thankful for the gifts that people give me every year that they give gifts & how hard they work to try to pick out a gift for me.
• You & Daddy
• Swimming at the pool
• Willa's dogs Gilly & Goldie & that Gilly is her brother & Goldie is her sister & I love them as much as she does
• How hard people work when they try & give us food
• All the art supplies that people make because I love making art
• Grandma & Grandpa
• All the little animals that need homes
• My two Baby Alives
• My teachers & my school
• Nice days
• Getting flu shots
• These two little babies, Lemon & Lime
• All my cousins
• Baby koalas, baby squirrels that don't have a home
• Nature
• Willa
• "You" [Sarah]
• Everything

Face paint and tattoos

Dorothy's school had a Thanksgiving feast today

Flashback: Bamboo!

The Sunday Funnies

Several of Dorothy's friends from her old preschool go to a school called Ellis, which comes up occasionally.  Yesterday Dorothy asked, "Rye and Ellana both go to that school together...I think it's LSU?"

Dorothy was rushing to draw a goodbye picture for her grandparents.  It was taking a while and I took a peek.  Her blue construction paper was cut-up into tiny confetti.  I asked what she was going to do with the confetti.  "I couldn't draw a picture of Grandma and me very goodly," she said, "so I cut it up.  Now I need a whole new idea."

Dorothy asked why my Cabbage Patch doll is called a "preemie".  I gave her a quick explanation about premature babies.  Then, with enthusiastic understanding, she said, "Oh, I know why this baby is a preemie.  This baby got picked too early from the cabbage patch."

Uncle Daniel asked Dorothy about her teacher's behavior management system, and inquired what happens if you get on the worst colors, orange and red.  Dorothy answered, "The consequence is that you get a note sent home to your mom and dad so that they can think of a better consequence."

Daddy-Daughter Date to The Grinch Ballet

How we found Dorothy

Ac-cent-tchu-ate the Positive

We visited the Bamboo Gardens while Dorothy was at school

The Willa Funnies

Today is our one year anniversary of spending afternoons with Willa!  In honor of the day, I present The Willa Funnies:

Looking at the deep end of the pool, Willa asked, "When are we going to get to jump off that surfboard?"

The girls ran across the grass and stopped short before the street.  "That was great," I said, "and look, you're still alive!"  "Heaven is a wonderful place," Willa replied.

"Willa, I like your new shoes.  When you go home tonight, I want you to count how many pairs of shoes you have, and let me know," I said.  "I can't count that high," admitted Willa.

Willa was playing with a cookie cutter shaped like the State of Georgia.  "Nice State of Georgia," I said.  "It's not the State of Georgia, it's a kitty cat," Willa said.  "I see how it looks like a kitty cat," I said, "but really it's the State of Georgia."  "The State of Georgia just said 'meow,'" Willa replied.

"I'm either allergic to something or something bit me," I said, "because since we were kneeling in the grass, my legs feel like they're on fire."
"Perhaps a fire ant bit you," Dorothy offered.
"Or a little alligator," Willa added.

Willa was excited to eat some Cheerios that she brought home from school on Halloween.  It was surprising she was making such a big deal about it, until she pulled from her backpack a bag of Oreos.

I introduced Dorothy and Willa to another mom at the playground.  "Willa?" the mom asked.  "W-i-l-l-a?"  Willa squealed, "How does she know how to spell my name?!"

We watched The Lion King and Willa said that she likes "the little lion Zumba".

Audience of one

Audience of two

Rainy day crafting with the Deans

Flashback: We went to the mall and came home with Dumbo

Flashback: Trend-setter at the field trip

More Family Day Fun

Family Day at Gulfstream 2019 (when your daughter is too big to pick-up and too short for the camera)

Happy birthday, Grandma!

Happy 6th birthday, Mary Claire!

The Sunday Funny

(After tipping her mug):  "I love the stuff at the end of hot chocolate."

The fire truck visited school this week

Trying on the gear

Stop, drop, & roll

I showed-up at school one day last week to find Dorothy playing Rock, Scissors, Paper with a classmate

Dorothy did not want to carve our pumpkin, because she did not want it to rot

This weekend Brian assembled the tent in the backyard for the girls to play

It was a big hit, mostly involving "moving in", that is, carrying all their belongings from the house into the tent.

After the turkey suggestion, we hopped in the car and took her straight to the beach

It turns out that Dorothy had all sorts of ideas for making a sand castle with a moat and a water slide for her LOL doll.  I think she has been watching beach videos on YouTube.

Directions: Baste in the sun

For Dorothy's school we were supposed to decorate a paper turkey to represent our family.  Dorothy wanted to make it a "beach turkey."  Brian and I looked at each other questioningly and made some other suggestions.  But we ended up with a beach turkey!