Just Catherine

I am constantly amazed at what comes out of Catherine's brain. She still enjoys a little time on her tablet, but she spends almost all her time either making artwork or playing in her own little world. 

I took her to a local pottery place where she got to pick a piece to paint with glaze. I knew she would enjoy it, but I underestimated the depth of her love for this kind of thing. She's been begging to go back ever since. Unfortunately, I also underestimated the cost. Definitely a special occasion only type of expense!

Carefully painting the ballerina

She worked really hard on her piece

The finished product.

She was especially proud of the rainbow inside her box. 

Other Catherine creations:

Our family, made out of glass gems.

The girls have hearts above their heads. And Elise is apparently absent.

A handprint tree (this one is from school)

I find art like this all over the house. Every day.

Another school art project.

Her art also extends to her own body. 

Hard to tell, but she found black eye shadow and went to town.

I called this her Winter Soldier look.

Catherine has an uncanny ability to pick up song lyrics. I have to be very careful with what we listen to on the radio (especially since her tastes include lots of "club" music). She recently discovered The Sound of Music and fell in love. One day she was playing with a bunch of dried black beans. She told me they were called "So Long, Farewell". Those beans definitely knew their Sound of Music!

This is Paul:

Paul was a moth the kids rescued from being eaten by ants. He lived a few days in a bowl on my counter before giving up the ghost. Catherine insisted that I take a picture of Paul so she could share it with her class. Sharing Day is her favorite day of the week. I'm pretty sure her teacher must think we're totally insane based on the pictures Catherine chooses to share with her class.

Playing Seth's recorder.

So grateful it hasn't come home from school in a couple of months.

In October we had a freakish heat wave. It had been quite chilly, so I had already done the major chore of swapping out the summer clothes. No way was I going to dig out summer pajamas for one stupid week. Catherine refused to sleep in her t-shirt and leggings, so Seth was kind and shared one set of his pajamas with her. They totally fit, too:

Catherine loves to help me cook. Or clean if it involves spraying things or Lysol wipes. It's fun having a little shadow in the kitchen. She was the only one who was fully committed to making Halloween cutout cookies with me:

The big deal around here has been the mastering of the bike. She's still hesitant on big hills, but she's great around our cul-de-sac! Hopefully next summer we can get her on a bigger bike to help with the balancing. And special kudos to Jon for his dedication and patience with her while she learned. 

Catherine loves her dad and is constantly trying to get one-on-one time with him. Luckily she's adorable and gets her way fairly often.

Besides the fact that she hates having her hair done, Catherine is quite the girly girl. She loves sparkly things, twirly dresses and rainbows. She's also continuing the Mikesell girl habit of making her own (often quite interesting) fashion choices. After putting on this outfit, she announced, "This is the most beautiful I have ever been!":

Grandma Cathy sent her a beautiful Sunday dress.

This is the pose she picked. Her pose choices are also quite unique:

The most important part of any dress is its twirl capacity:

She wasted used $1 of her money to buy these fake Elsa nails.

They totally lasted 15 minutes:

Despite all my fears, she is thriving in kindergarten. She was so sad to miss school over Thanksgiving break. Her teacher says she's doing great in reading and math, and has made huge strides overcoming her tendency to be offended and melt down in tears. School is a good fit for Miss Catherine (and she has the absolute best teacher). 

Lately she's been asking me to sing her a song before bed. I'm pretty sure it's just a stall tactic, but it's fun to hear her singing them around the house. "Edelweiss" is one of her favorites (and the song that kicked off the Sound of Music love). 

I love this little girl and all the surprises she has in store.