"These boots are made for walkin'..." Actually, I think that these particular boots are made to just stand still in, seeing as I can't bend my knees when I have them on.

My Mommy said that she's tired of having to get rid of crayon stains from my clothes, so now she makes me wear this silly smock thing whenever I'm coloring. Too bad for her they haven't made any smocks to cover the walls with yet. 

What do you think should go on top of my "I Raided the Bathroom Cupboard" pyramid? I'm thinking this Calamine Lotion might be a bit heavy, but Dexter's sleeping pills always tip everything over. I'm going to have to look for something a little more stable... Was that a new tube of Mom's favorite lipstick I saw in there? That ought to do the trick. :) 

I got to go to my Aunt Heather's on Sunday and make Christmas cookies with all of my cousins. I bailed out rather early, (actually as soon as I noticed that my cousin Olivia had left her Bitty Baby unguarded), but I still got to eat the final results. Yummy yummy in my tummy!!! 

Deranged Rock Star, or Mad Scientist? You decide.....
 

My Daddy came home with a new friend for me to play with! He's very handsome with big brown eyes and four points for me to hang all my jewelry on. He sure doesn't have much to say though..... 

My Daddy and I did some Tag-Team yard work this weekend. He raked the leaves and I chopped them up with my heavy-duty power lawnmower. As they say, many hands make light work! 

My Mommy decided yesterday to try to take some pictures of me to put on our family Christmas card. She kept trying to make me sit still and smile, and she kept saying the word "Cheese" to me, but she never even followed through with bringing me any. So I decided to have a little fun with her by running away with the props, and showing her my belly whenever she was ready to take my picture. You know, give her a little "naughty" along with my "nice".
 

So I said to my Mommy, "Who cares if it's only 35 degrees out? And, really, who wears mittens in this day and age anyway? Let's just get out there and enjoy these bare sidewalks while we can!" Well, she did indulge me, but I'm a little embarrassed to admit we only made it to the mailbox before I decided it was time for us to turn around. She thinks it was because I was cold and crabby, but actually I was just concerned for my poor little friend Dexter. With all that fuss over me and trying to get me to wear my hat and mittens, my Mommy plain forgot to dress Dexter in his. It's a good thing one of us watches out for him. 

I've figured out a new way to haul around my blankie without having to tie up one of my hands! I get a few strange looks from the other kids when I display this tactic out in public, but I don't mind. I think they're just trying to figure out how to maneuver this move themselves.
 

Hey, Mommy, I've been hearing through the grapevine that you're planning on leaving me this weekend to go shopping with "the girls". Ummm, if you haven't noticed, I am a girl, I love to shop, and if this isn't a picture of a lady in some desperate need of some new shoes I don't know what is. So I'm just going to grab my coat and I'll meet you in the car. Oh, and grab some cookies on the way out, will ya'? I'm starved.

This is my cousin Sammy. This is my cousin Sammy sitting in my rocking chair. This is me giving my cousin Sammy the stink-eye for sitting in my rocking chair. This is my cousin Sammy pretending to not be affected by my stink-eye while she still sits in my rocking chair.



I think it finally worked. This is Sammy giving me a kiss on my forehead. We're good buds, my cousin Sammy and me.

Unfortunately I was forced to give my cousin Roxy the stink-eye as well a couple of times during her visit here from Seattle. She's pretty harmless right now, but I just have to make sure she stays that way. I will give her props though, she was able to convince her Mommy to take my Mommy to our favorite restaurant, Pereddie's, and even let me play with her scrunchy book while we were there. She's all right, that West Coast cousin of mine.
 

With all the random nice days we've been having I was able to get one more day in at the park. While we were there I taught Mommy the proper way to steer a playset, use a slide, and bury a leg. At her age you'd think these were things she already would know how to do, but I guess there are going to be a few things that I'm just going to have to teach her myself.

 

A brief synopsis of my Halloween night:

1. Continually rub off my nose and whiskers until Mommy
gives up trying to paint them on me.
2. Patiently wait by the door while Mommy and Nana take
500 pictures of me and my cousins. (Don't they know that
there's FREE CANDY out there?)
3. Try to beat everybody else to said candy, even though I
have no idea where I'm going or what to say when I get
there. Although I believe it goes something like, "Dana.
Candy. More."
4. Attempt to eat candy with wrappers still on, realize
they might taste better without them, and bring them to
Mommy one by one so she can get a good look at them
and figure out how to open each one when I let her know
that it's time.
5. Check out my pillage and organize according
to color, flavor, and things I can throw at
Dexter.
6. Wonder why it is that Daddy's mouth
has been full for a really long time, Mommy
keeps trying to distract me, and my pile of
loot seems to be gradually diminishing.....
7. Come down from my sugar high enough to fall
asleep and dream of next year, when I'll be able
to run alot faster and therefore get alot more
candy. Also try to think of a way to keep
Mommy and Daddy's dirty paws off my
property..... 

So I'm really not thrilled with this whole cold weather thing. First my Mommy and Daddy put away my swimming pool, and now they trap me in this horrible, puffy, atrocity of outerwear. I can hardly move, and therefore am having trouble keeping up my quota of messes that I am required to make every day. It's a good thing Michigan winters only last a week or two.

Mommy, don't you be looking at me like that. I warned you what would happen if you left me alone. And I didn't technically do anything wrong, you only told me to leave the toilet paper on the roll. If you look closely, you will see that it's still nicely rolled up. I think that an apology, and maybe a piece of candy, might be in order.
 

I went and stayed overnight at my Grandma Alberda's house and she introduced me to the fine art of horseback riding. I'm not sure, but I think I might be a natural. Would you check out this form? Grandma, for Christmas this year maybe you should get me a nice pair of riding chaps... 

What? Like you've never had a bad hair day? I'll have you know it took me the better part of my nap to get this mop styled to perfection. My guess is that we'll be seeing this look in all the fashion magazines relatively soon.