I was sitting here at the computer while out of the corner of my eye, I saw Berit heading stealthily to the stairs with a plastic shopping bag, much like the kind her halloween candy is in. I thought I should investigate, so I went over.

"Wait up a second, Berit..."

Berit casually tosses the candy onto the stairs behind her and gives me the "OH... Daddy, is it ok if I get a drink of water?" deflection (Look over here! Look over here! There is no one behind that curtain!!!)

She reminds me so much of me it's scary.

Berit and I hiked up Royal Arch trail to the first top, where we climbed up onto some high rocks overlooking the city. I ended up sitting closer to the edge than made Berit comfortable, and I didn't understand that at first - until she began crying.

I felt bad for freaking her out. Berit is very sensitive... she's very much like me that way.

Berit has taken to writing on herself in ballpoint pen - mostly decorative wrist and ankleband tatoos. This morning, she had a note on her forearm though:

"Recess idea on leg."

So then you read her leg and it says, "Do Penny Drops."

(Penny Drop is a gymnastic move she recently learned in which she swings by her leg on the bar and then flips forwards off of the bar to her feet on the ground.)

When Pam comes in to kiss Griffin goodnight, he tells her, "I love you more than pirates love their treasure." And then a little later, while I'm lying in bed reading next to him, he turns to me, smiles, and says, "I'm glad Mommy stopped by."

Griffin: "On Ground Talk Day, the squirrel comes out of his hole and sees his shadow. Then he goes back down."

Griffin and I are upstairs playing with the trains, and he turns to me, smiles, and says, "I like having a daddy."

Rowan lost her first tooth yesterday. The tooth fairy gave her $5 and fairy dust. She seemed as excited about the fairy dust as the money.

Today Berit and I went skiing at Eldora. Now she takes the small jumps, and she did great up on that steep blue also - Powderhorn - my little shredder.

Griffin and I built a snowman in front of the YMCA today. After putting in rocks for the eyes and nose, Griffin pulled a lollipop from his pocket and stuck it in the center of the snowman's base.

"This can be his penis!"

Berit and I had our first ski day today. She skiied great, picking up where she left off last year after a few runs. We even went over to Eldora's quad up to a steep blue run which Berit was happy to do a couple times. She did great at it, too - making turns all the way down.

Capped it off with a nice cup of hot cocoa with Claire and Meera. Lots of fun. Tired girl.