My grandfather would have found this interesting

Buddy, my dad's dad, was an archaeologist and avid collector of antiques. His home was a musty, ranch style home with a rock garden in the front and the beautiful, wide Caloosahatchee River flowing in the back. It was filled with treasures from his years in the military and many foreign travels. I remember hearing him tell stories throughout my childhood about where he found and purchased his treasures over the years. Ornamental pots from Asia. Rugs from Persia. Stuffed alligators from his beloved home-state of Florida. Two hundred year old books in his library. Paintings of native Caloosa Indians in his bathroom. I miss him, his stories, and his home. I hope to write more about him one day soon.

I bring up Buddy because the older I get I realize how much alike him I am in my love for studying people.  One silly way I see this is in my observance of Karis and the random piles of toys I find throughout the house. I wonder what goes through her mind as she plays, and sometimes I find I can learn things about her by looking at the evidence of her play. I first blogged about this here in a humorous way, but I realized today how many photos I've taken of her things over the last few weeks. My memory card on my camera is filled with photos of random collections of her toys that I have observed and thought were funny. Though at night I'm less than thrilled to have to pick up so many toys, I love this girl and the crazy things she leaves laying around.

P.S. Sorry for the spacing issues. Anybody else having formatting issues with blogger?


I found this shrine of sorts parked in front of the kitchen stove the other day. It consists of a step stool with some bowls, a plate, a stuffed elephant, a few napkins, a cup, and, strangely, a Gideon's Bible.


A horse eating a giant piece of cake and a pink water bowl.


A horse on window sill. Sure--where else would you store your horse after playing with it?















This is a scene I often find in her room. All of her farm animals lined up in circles having a "carnival" as she calls it.






A couple of weeks ago she was sick with an ear infection and a throat infection. I found her lining up all of her animals in a row. She told me they were all sick. I'm not sure if they were lined up to go to the doctor or what exactly was going on, but I have to admit I was excited to find my imaginative, creative (read: often flighty) child actually organizing something. :-)

Pokey the puppy attatched by string to a princess. The string is wrapped around the princess neck, and it makes me wonder who was walking whom.