The Tiki Pinata That Lived

Well, I guess we have a pal named Tiki now, Rozzie!

Hiya, Big People!  Happy Friday to you!

Well, ya know, I'm a kid who loves luau parties and tikis and my pal Rozzie!

For my recent Fifth Birthday, I held a luau party, featuring a tiki pinata filled with Tootsie Roll products. 

Now, I'm sure you all know how a pinata works.  Ya whack it with a ball-bat, it breaks open, the candy comes out, and you move on with your life.

Except that didn't happen with my tiki pinata.  I whacked it with a baseball bat, and whacked it, but it didn't break.  The little hatch opened where the candy was put in, so I had Daddy get the tiki down and I poured the candy out.

As you can imagine, the tiki and I have had some awkward times.  I wasn't emotionally prepared to be his long-term friend, and he has trust issues with me, on accounta I tried to break him open with a baseball bat. 

It's been a little over a month since my birthday party, and the tiki has moved into my office.  He overlooks me and all my toys.  We've come to an understanding.  We aren't exactly pals yet, but I've made it clear that I'm not gonna fill Tiki with candy and whack him with the pinata again.  In time, Tiki and I will be friends. 

You just never know where life is gonna take you, Friends.  Ya just never know. 

I love ya lots, Friends!  I'll be seein' ya tomorrow!  Muah!

Sunday, Monday, Happy Days!

They're all happy days to me, even the ones I forget to list off!

Hiya, Big People!  Happy Thursday to you!

Well, ya know, I'm learnin' the days of the week and how to string 'em all up in order, like beads on a necklace, and I do pretty darned good when I start out with Sunday. 

After Sunday, I know Monday turns up. 

I even remember Tuesday. 

Wednesday and Thursday, I skip right over most of the time.  I don't mean to.  It isn't that I dislike Wednesday and Thursday.  In fact, I like 'em a lot!

I just don't always remember 'em, which is to say I pretty much always forget Wednesday and Thursday.

I go straight from Tuesday to Friday.  Boyo boy, talk about a dang ol' timewarp, Big People!  Could you imagine if that's the way it really was?  Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday?  Boy, I bet a lot of things would be weird.

Someday, I'll get it all right.  I'll remember to put in Wednesday and Thursday.  In the meantime, they're all Happy Days for me.  I hope they are to you, too, Friends!

I love ya lots!  I'll see ya tomorrow!  Muah!

Butterfly!

Butterflies are like flying flowers, Friends!

Hiya, Big People!  Happy Wednesday to you! 

Well, ya know, I am an avid reader, and also an ardent admirer of butterflies, and I've been learnin' a lot about butterflies lately. 

Did you even know that butterflies hatch from eggs and spend the first part of their lives as little worms called caterpillars?  It's true!  And those caterpillars eat and eat and eat and eat! 

This process is detailed in detail in the informative Eric Carle book The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  Boyo boy, can those little caterpillars eat!

When they get tired of eatin', the caterpillars hook themselves onto a leaf and spin a chrysalis around themselves, and something magical happens.  The caterpillar goes from being a worm to becoming a butterfly!

Monarch butterflies travel thousands of miles in what's called a migration.  They go there and not quite back again, but their butterfly kids end up finishin' up the journey.  The butterflies I saw in the butterfly room at the Museum of Play live for only about two weeks.

All butterflies have this tube that they roll out so they can drink nectar.   That fascinates me.  That essentially means that butterflies carry a crazy straw with 'em at all times, and I really admire that kind of preparedness!

I had a butterfly land on me at the Museum of Play, and it was such a life-changing experience for me, like the first time I met Nora the Little Giraffe, four years ago.  I've had butterflies on my bedding ever since I was born, but I didn't really appreciate them until that one landed on me.  I think butterflies and I are gonna be life-long pals.

 I think you and I are also gonna be life-long pals, Big People!  I love ya lots, and I'll be seein' ya tomorrow!  Muah!

10-4, Good Buddy!

I 10-4 that 10-Codes are rad!

Hiya, Big People!

Well, ya know, I think I write about this every year on October the Fourth, but it's so catchy I can't help myself.  Today is 10-4, which in ten-code means "I understand." 

Since I'm Five now, I 10-4 a lot of things I didn't used to, Good Buddy.  I 10-4 the value of a good nap, for instance.  Back when I was a kid, naps and I did NOT get along.  Now, naps and I are cool.  I like 'em!

I also 10-4 all the letters in the alphabet.  Sometimes I get Little D and Little B mixed up, and Little Q and Little P, and sometimes my Zs get turned around the wrong way, but I 10-4 those letters when I see 'em, friends, and that's the start of a lifelong friendship right there. 

One thing that I have ALWAYS 10-4'ed, though, Friends, is how important it is to Be Me.  You know what I'm talkin' about.  Bein' me means that I can like something, even though other people might not.  Spinach, for instance.  That's something I like that apparently is a little divisive.  Bein' me means that I will keep on doing what I like, even if other people think I'm kinda nerdy, quirky, or weird for it.  I won't let 'em make me feel bad for lettin' my Freak Flag Fly, Friends, and neither should you!  That's another thing I really 10-4, and that's that all my friends each have their own things that make them unique, and I just love that!  If I wanted everybody to be like me, I'd spend the whole day in front of a mirror. 

And as interesting as I am for bein' me, Friends, I'd get pretty bored, right quick, stuck in my own company for that long. You bet I would! 

So, hey.  Learn to 10-4 something new today.  10-Codes, for instance.  That'd be fun!  But whatever you do, Be You!  I love ya lots!  Zoe out!  Muah!

It Started with Movin' a Television....

It's like we have a whole new house!

Hiya, Big People!  Happy Monday to you!

So!  How's it goin'? 

Boyo boy, did I ever have a WEEKEND.  We decided to move the television that was originally in the family room into the living room, because we got another television for the family room, because we thought the television that was originally in the family room was broken, but turns out...

It wasn't broken.

Well, ya  know, it starts out with just wantin' to move the television.  Seems simple enough.

Grownups, you know it's NEVER as simple as it seems!  First of all, Daddy had to move an electrical box.  But then he had to take down some of the wood on the living room wall.  After that, he had to put it back.  Then he hung up the television.

Well, we couldn't keep the furnitures the way they were before the new old television moved rooms, because none of it was facing that particular wall, so we slid furnitures all around the floor for optimal comfort and television viewing, while keeping a configuration that allows for maximum conversation as well. 

We got it done, though.  I'm still getting used to the furniture like this, but I think I'm gonna like it.  I just feel like I need a weekend to recover from my weekend!

Do you ever feel like that, Friends?

I sure love ya lots!  I'll be seein' ya tomorrow!  Be good to yourself!  Muah!

Grabbin' the Day By the Horns!

It's so important to grab your day by the horns!

Hiya, Big People!  Happy Sunday to you!

Well, ya know, I'm a kid who likes to grab a day by its dang ol' horns, you know?

There are many advantages to grabbin' the day by the dang ol' horns, Big People.  For starters, ya get more day when ya grab it by the horns.  Also, when ya grab the day by the horns, you show that day who's boss.

In fact, I am such a boss-enthusiast that I not only grab the day by the horns, but I lift it up and swing it around my head.  You really hafta, Friends.  It's how ya get the most out of your day.

Especially weekend days, Bug People.  So how about you go get up from your computer, meet the day, say, "Hiya, Sunday!" then grab this dang ol' weekend day by the horns and just swing it around and around your head!  Do it!

I love ya lots, Big People!  I'll be seein' ya tomorrow!  Muah!

Little Pink Weights

If you're happy and ya know it, lift some weights!

Hiya, Big People!  Happy Saturday to you!

Well, ya know, I am a fitness enthusiast.  I just love grabbin' weights and swingin' 'em around like a champ.  It really makes my muscles happy. 

It makes my HEART happy!

I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I have two sets of Little Pink Weights.  One pound and two pounds.  Sure, I'm eyein' up those edgy-looking muted gunmetal iron weights for when I'm bigger, but right now, there's little that compares to the feeling of getting down to the gymnasium and seein' my Little Pink Weights weighting for me.  There's nothing like commanding those weights to get them to do what I want 'em to, and what I want 'em to do is to make my bones and muscles and heart and lungs stronger and even more unstoppable!

Friends, you might think I'm crazy, bein' so crazy about fitness, but it really feels great to take care of myself!

Liftin' my Little Pink Weights makes me happy!  And if you're happy and ya know it, ya lift some weights!

I love ya lots, Friends!  I'll see ya tomorrow!  Muah!