She's a Very Busy Girl...

Today was a snow day. No school! Unfortunately, in addition to the blizzard outside, Hurricane Haven was full force inside. This is a very busy girl...she is like the perfect storm. If the Energizer Bunny married Dennis the Menace and they had kids, well, they would be Haven. She loves to "work" around the house with mom. Today:

Haven sewed with me. I was working on a sling when she climbed up on the chair behind me, put her little feet into the small of my back, locked her knees, and said, "It's my turn now. It's Haven's turn!" Apparently "Haven's turn" sewing involved making several adjustments to my sewing machine and completely unloading my thread box whilst stacking as many as possible on top of the machine.

I decided that being snowed in (or whatever since we didn't actually get any snow until late afternoon) would provide the perfect opportunity to work on potty training, so Haven went diaperless or with panties all morning. She managed not to pee in her panties or on the floor, but also refused to sit on her potty chair whenever I suggested it. Apparently she used it on her own at least once, however...a fact that I discovered when I found her baby doll sitting in the potty chair and upon closer inspection found to be hip deep in urine. Lovely.

Next, we baked blondies (you know...kind of a brownie without the chocolate). Well, I baked blondies and Haven repeatedly stuck clean utensils into the batter and "helped" me. Just to make this clear, I did not invite Miss Haven to help me with the baking. Rather, I went to the pantry to get cooking spray and by the time I got back into the kitchen she had pushed a chair up to the counter, climbed on top of it, and proceeded to dirty every utensil in the drawer.

After lunch we marked garage sale items for the school garage sale. Haven was very, shall we say, active in the process. She was all about unloading the boxes and bags and then re-loading them with both marked and unmarked garage sale goodies. She really had a high time when she found a bag of craft goodies to sort. Haven "sorted" them all over my carpet. I'll be vacuuming them up for weeks.

After nap and a snack, I reorganized the DVDs and attempted to match all of the empty cases with the caseless disks. Haven focused on removing all of the VHS tapes from their cases, stacking them in piles on the floor, then returning the empty cases to the rack. What a helper!

While I was making supper in a surprisingly Haven-free kitchen, Miss Hurricane evidently took it upon herself to feed the dog...from her snack bowl.

As I sit on the couch typing, Haven is busily lining out her baby dolls. They seem to be quite a discipline problem collectively, though they are also quite affectionate with each other and often kiss and hug. Haven just tattled on a doll that is really more of a figurine. "That girl won't give me her purse! Tell that girl to give me her purse...share," she insisted. Unfortunately, the fact that the purse is sewn to the doll's hands means nothing to Haven Esther. Just another challenge to conquer!