Arielle is very perceptive as to what will make people laugh. A while back, the girls and I would say, "Ohhhhh, yeah!". Kind of like Randy Macho Man Savage used to do. Kayla, ZZ, and I would do it in low voices and Ari would do it in a high pitched squeaky voice and make us all laugh hysterically. We would keep saying, "Ari, do it again! Do it again!". And she would do it again and we would laugh just as hard. We actually thought her voice was so high and squeaky, that's just how it came out, but she had us all fooled. After a few days of listening to us laugh about the high squeaky voice, she waited for her moment. We were in the car driving and we all said it again, "Do it Ari! Do it! Ohhhhhh, yeah!". And then Ari let out a low, scary, Macho Man-esque ... "Ohhhhhhhh yeahhhhh!". We all looked at each other for a second in disbelief. Then we laughed so hard I had to pull over because I was crying.

Ari has realized that crackheads make easy jokes. Unfortunately, the bike trails that we ride on have a lot of homeless people. And in the more seedy areas, there are more seedy homeless people ... crackheads. So, we were waiting at a crosswalk and one of the crackheads was waiting next to us. I think Ari was really a little bit scared, but she didn't waste an oppurtunity to make us laugh. As soon as the light said walk, Ari took off running and said, "Hurry up, before the crackhead gets you!".

Ari loves school and soccer! I think she has totally moved past her shyness. She is outspoken and witty and not afraid to be herself! Her first soccer game is this Saturday! I can't wait!

Ari does not like doing homework. She does as little as she can to keep me happy. We will have to work on that!

Ari is also very concerned with how she looks! Kayla is too. Zara, not as much. But Ari takes it to a new level. It's not so much her clothes. She likes to wear cute clothes, but she NEEDS her hair to look right. She insists on brushing it. In the morning she will get mad sometimes after I brush it because it has "bumps" in it or that it just looks crazy. So she will wet it down and plaster it to her head, and then it looks good. It makes me laugh every time. She still likes a good old fashioned pony tail though!

Ari is finally starting preschool this year! And she is playing soccer on Liam's team with Auntie Erica as the coach! She is really excited! So am I! Ari is very patient, but I can tell that she is super excited!

Being the third girl, and the fact that the girls are so close in age, it's been difficult to spend one on one time teaching Ari the things we taught Kayla and Zara. Kayla knew the whole alphabet by preschool and Zara knew at least most of the letters. Ari doesn't know them all. In fact, she can only identify a handfull of them. But she did write 'hi dad' today! I don't have any worries about it though. Kayla and Zara were both reluctant to learn at home, but at school they both flourished and Ari is very bright. She won't have any problems!

As far as soccer, look out! Ari is a menace! I just hope she plays like she plays at home, but she does get shy sometimes! We'll see next month!

So I put struts on my friend's car today and I test drove it afterwards with the girls. They all wanted to hear some music so I played whatever was in the CD player. It just happened to be Guns N Roses, Appetite For Destruction. Welcome to the Jungle started playing and Kayla turned it up. Then she turned it up LOUD! I turned it down and said, "Hey! That's way too loud!".
I turned to the back seat and asked Zara and Ari, "Is that too loud?".
Ari looks at me excitedly and says, "Yeah! That's too loud! I like it too loud!".
That's my girl!

It was me and Ari again this morning! We dropped off Zara at school and headed to Shaddy's to get a coffee and a milk. I put in the kids mix CD on track 15 and as the synthesizers from Van Halen's Jump started, Ari said, "Dad! Turn it up! Turn it up loud!". So I did!
The next song, Ari sang in her high falsetto voice, "Say it ain't so, I will not go, turn the lights off, carry me home!".
Then, Our Song by Taylor Swift came on, which is coincidentally, me and Ari's song. So we sang it together, "Our song is the way you laugh, the first date 'man, I didn't kiss her, and I should have'. And when I got home, before I said, 'amen' Askin' Superman, to play it again... ".
Gotta appreciate the variety!

Ari has always been the big eater. Lately she has been discovering new foods, mostly because she is ignoring what her older sisters think and trying food for herself! She discovered that she likes ketchup, mashed potatoes, black pepper, and dad's sandwiches. Dad's sandwiches have lots of green stuff like bell peppers and spinach or lettuce, and tomatoes, onion, basically lots of stuff that the girls don't normally eat. But Ari is finding out that it really is pretty good. It's not pizza or ice cream, but it's good!

Arielle is so hot and cold. I was going to write about how cute she's been lately and I think about how bratty she's been! She is definitely becoming more stubborn and the crying has not stopped whatsoever! I think it's gotten worse! I've come up with a plan to combat the crying. Now when she cries and throws a fit I ask her excitedly if she has to go potty. She hates it, so I'm hoping that it will get her to stop...
She really has been really cute too! Her and I help out in Kayla and ZZ's classrooms. She fits right in and hangs out with her sisters or even other girls all together. In ZZ's class she gets a name tag and does class work with the rest of the class. She usually does not sit next to Zara, she's pretty independent and is fine doing things on her own. Too bad she's still got this school year and next school year before she starts preschool! If any of the three girls was ready for school early, it's Arielle!

I finally got Arielle's new web page ready and while putting it up, I deleted her 2012 page! Sorry, kiddo. I don't think there's any getting it back since I did not back up my files! Boooooooooooo!