Tornado Warning!!

When Emma heard there was a tornado watch in the area tonight, she immediately grabbed Toto and set up her storm cellar in the living room (after jumping around wildly when that mean old lady tried to steal Toto. Of course we had to start from the beginning of the soundtrack...) When the watch turned into a warning, we went into the kitchen & turned on the radio. No tornadoes in the immediate vicinity, although one did pass a few miles away--just quarter-sized hail. You just never know in Kansas--I mean Texas--apparently.

Dream Factory

Right before Emma goes to sleep, I often say to her I hope she has "silly" dreams (which are the best kind to have if you're four, apparently). Tonight, I also, as I sometimes do, told her that after she's asleep, we each kiss her on the cheek and Mommy often whispers something in her ear like "Mommy loves you" or "God loves you" or "You're going to have a great life" or something I want her to know deep in her heart. Her reply to me telling her all this tonight was that she had a factory inside her that made her dreams. They were made in her brain then they went down to her heart then out from the heart into the real world. Kerplunk! (I added the kerplunk.)

In less metaphysical matters, she seems to have crossed a key threshold in her soccer career in actually stepping onto the field during a game tonight--twice! Finally, the power of that leg will be unleashed upon an unsuspecting city. Be afraid, be very afraid! Her team is the Northaven Kangaroos. They play teams that are named things like the Gators and the Pickles. What would that do for corporate morale if, instead of R&D Applications Development, your department were named The Pickles? Get your dream factory working on that. You go, Tiger!!!

The Goat With a Coat in a Boat

Emma has re-discovered her enjoyment in naming things. Last night she once again made up names on the fly for all 20 bunnies in the story The Country Bunny. Today she told me that if she had two children, she would name them Javry and Mavry ("Not Mav-ER-y!"). Her inflatable monkey (actually and clandestinely, its second iteration) remains Cooches.

In other news, our huge bibbed purple irises on the side of the driveway have begun blooming, so I brought one inside and she asked if she could kiss it. This cute little girl habit started when Kent brought me red tulips for Valentine's Day and Emma and I practiced being very gentle with them. Kissing them as gently as possible was one thing she enjoyed doing and I enjoyed photographing.

Over the weekend, our church had its annual sunrise Easter service. Mercifully, it was held inside vs. at the lake in the freezing weather. (The last time it was this cold in Texas in April was the 1930s.) And, yes, the things one says to one's self in the car on the way at 6:15 am after stuffing Easter eggs then going to bed at midnight are decidedly un-edifying... Emma gave me a painting she'd recently done of a shining sun with a sky and asked if we could hang it up inside since we wouldn't have a real sunrise, which we did.

Today, we wrote our first joint publication. It is entitled "The Goat With a Coat in a Boat". Emma stapled the book together, did the title & end lettering, colored the illustrations, and we wrote the story together. I won't spoil the ending for you, but the dramatic tension is nicely resolved. This brought back fond memories for me of writing and illustrating tiny books when I was a girl. There was one about a cat and a mouse that no doubt mirrored my relationship with my sister, and one for my Mom about why she should stop smoking (which she did 30 years later, but I'm sure without the book it would have taken at least 35 years).