Apple's Fascinating Mind

Apple has been so funny lately. She has had a very vivid imagination. She's been telling me all about these things that happen to her. Sometimes it is big stuff, sometimes just a little thing. The other day, I had a friend pick her up from pre-school and Apple told me that she forgot about her and she had to stay with the teachers and then my friend came back. Apparently, that totally didn't happen. Then the other day when I got home from the grocery store, she said, "Why did you forget to buy dog food?" I said, "We don't have a dog sweetie." And she said, "Really? I thought we did have one." She has also told me about the time our house burned down and we had to go running out in the middle of the night. It's just so funny. I know imagination and reality totally blur at this age, but man, some of the stuff she convinces herself of is wild. This is what she said to me yesterday:

"I learned how to do my hairs. I spray and spray and spray and spray and spray and brush and spray. Now my hair goes like this, like the girl in the 'Credibles. So I have to wear a headband so G (her friend) doesn't know I'm a 'Credible. I was a 'Credible when I was a baby because I was like that 'Credibles baby." Then she went on to describe her babyhood as a 'Credible. I love how she goes off on these wild tangents.

She has been learning so much in preschool. The other day I was sitting in the car and she said, "You know that big storm on Jupiter? You know, that makes it look like it has a big red spot?" She'll just throw things out like that randomly. I love it. She'll start talking about transportation or the Antarctic. She decided to make her teachers some planet bookmarks. That's what the picture is. She's really thriving. When she started in September, she couldn't draw a line and now she can write her name independently. And the other day, I was looking through this little journal she has. She'd been drawing flowers and people, and then I came across the words "fun money" "tithing" and "mission fund" written perfectly. She had copied them off of her little savings bank. It's weird because if I try to help her, she can't do it, but if I write a word and then walk away, she can copy it really well. It's pretty cool.

Okay, one more cute thing. Last night we were driving on to the base and Strawberry said, "What if the guy checking your card was really daddy? And he just said, 'You don't have to show me your card honey.' That would be really awesome, huh?" I said, "I'd grab him and kiss him." And Apple said, "I'd grab him and put him in the house and lock the door so we could keep him forever." I totally cried the rest of the way home. These girls so adore their daddy. They are actually doing really well and I think it is because he is such an amazing dad and they know how much he loves them. They think about him and talk about him all the time, but they are happy thoughts. I was afraid that they would get depressed, but these wild imaginations are so helpful because instead of thinking how sad it is that he isn't here, they talk about how great it would be if he was here and what they would do and what we are going to do when he gets home. It makes me happy.

Speaking of Luke, he's moved from the main base to one a little further north and is sort of in transition to his goal area. His job is seriously changing every time I talk to him so who knows what he will end up doing. Right now he is hanging out with the German army and getting snowed on. He's happy and healthy and studying hard.