Barbie.

Darby's is TOTALLY into Barbie right now.  Well, she's totally into undressing Barbie and then leaving her in all her nakedness strewn about the house.  What is it with little girls?  Seriously!  They just undress Barbie and walk away!

She also likes Barbie movies.  We are the proud owners of "Barbie and the Diamond Castle", "Barbie and the Three Musketeers", "Barbie-Mermaidia", "Barbie and the Nutcracker", "Barbie in A Christmas Carol", "Barbie-Swan Lake", and our most recent add, "Barbie-Sing Along."

I.
Hate.
Barbie.

Anyhow, Darby knows every word to every Barbie song out there.  When Kristin and I were in Haiti on our missions trip, I jokingly said to Kristin, "You know the best part about being here?"  "No," she replied.  "BARBIE is NOT HERE!"  We both had a good laugh, but I'll be darned if I didn't check "That book" later on that night to watch a video Dallas posted of Darby playing guitar and singing, 'Believe in all that can be.  A miracle starts whenever you sing...'." Barbie had, indeed, graced the soils of Haiti. 

The obsession with Barbie has, in my own opinion, gone too far.  Darby was outside playing in the driveway one day.  She came inside, and the following conversation ensued:

Darby just said, "I need to go to the seven stones!"
My reply: "How do you get there?"
Darby: "It's in Barbie and the Diamond Castle. Here! I'll show you!"
Curious, I followed her outside, where we went to our landscaping stones to play for a bit.  But first, just to be on the safe side, I updated my status and told my friends that I would be "heading to the Seven Stones," and if I wasn't back in ten, to "just wait longer."  !)

The most phenomenal influence Barbie has made on our young Pixie of late happens when we are out in public.  Namely, anywhere anyone is shopping for anything.  She will walk up to any stranger and say, "Excuse me!  That belongs in MY KINGDOM!"  That has become such a common quote to be heard gracing her lips during a shopping trip that it doesn't even phase me anymore.  However, one day, she said it to an older man who had quite an exchange with the Redhead:

Man: "Oh.  I can't buy this?"
Darby: "No!"
Man: "Well, what CAN I buy?"
Darby: "That thing, and  you can ride a brown pony, and I will ride a pink horse!"

Another quick saying that She has picked up has become a "family quote."  She says it to us, we say it back to her.  It has been highly effective in behavior modification, and it goes something like this: "You are being a ROYAL PARTY POOPER!"  That's it.  One bold statement, and behavior changes to good almost instantaneously.  Go ahead and try it at home.  It might work for you, too!

Barbie...Darby...
Darby...Barbie...
There might be something to it.
Who knows?