Crazy Kid

My dare devil daughter provided heart stopping terror for her father and I. Yes, Katie. If you know her at all, you know she tends to be a bit accident prone - a trait she most certainly acquired from ED! Yesterday afternoon we went to the local golf course for some sledding fun. The sun was sparkling off the snow, the wind was calm and the temperature was a balmy 33 degrees. Perfect sledding weather. The hills weren't crowded and there were several paths that had been smoothed into icy slopes by previous sledders. Perfect sledding conditions. On the far left end of the hill someone had created a rather large jump. It was very steep up the front side and flat on the back. Katie decided she should try it out, inspite of my warnings. She laid her tube out in front of her and backed up for a running start. Whoosh! She flew down the hill heading straight for her target. Up the jump she went. Katie and the tube parted ways. Her face hit the ground first and then her legs went over her head so that she did a flip, only, her head stayed in the snow. We thought for sure we had just witnessed our daughter break her neck. Crazy kid. Fortunately, being the tough, athletic girl that she is, she rolled over and got up. The inside of her mouth got cut up by her braces, her bottom lip is HUGE, she has multiple scratches on one side of her face, and the beginnings of a black eye. Thank you Jesus for sparing her a major injury! I don't think she'll be so adventurous next time. And I'm sure I will be far MORE insistent that she LISTEN when her mother says "DON'T DO IT!"

Shop Talk: I'm finding that I really like developing characters. I've been creating a protagonist for the early chapter book I will start during BIW. I love her already. So far she is a mix of Becky and me. I'll tell you more about her as she comes to life. And the more time I spend with Nick, the more I love him too! He's a good boy, but he's all boy! He's got a tender heart but he's not wimpy. Finding the plot to put my characters in is a bit trickier for me at this point. Conflict is difficult for me to create. And remember, there needs to be awful elements that these characters have to overcome.

Disney Tips: The single best web site out there to help you plan a Disney vacation is Mousesavers.com. Poke around the site and see for yourself all it has to offer. As we get closer to our trip this fall I will have more tips. I'm not quite in vacation planning mode yet.

Happy Monday!