Panel 1: We start things off with Liz all smiley and upbeat when she tells Daddy that what they need this spring is a birdhouse. You'll notice that she has her hair down because she's in transition from what I call Level 2 Elizabeth (Canadian Content Cindy Brady) to Level 3 (high ponytail and glasses) Liz.
Panel 2: She talks a mile a minute about how she wants a big, big birdhouse that looks like a castle with lots of rooms and balconies and ladders and stuff. You will also notice that I'm sick of kid- and hickspeak and from now on choose to record her dialogue in Standard English.
Panel 3: John agrees to this but not to the implicit Daddy-Do thing she was hoping for when he says that if she draws up the plans, he'll show her how to cut out the pieces and put it together herself. You will notice that she deflates a lot.
Panel 4: When she comes back with a drawing of a scaled-down house says "I thought that we'd start small", you'll notice the wide grin on John's face generated by his knowing that doing things herself is something she doesn't like much.
Summary: It's not much of an arc and it really doesn't do anything but set John up as a tinkerer. In two months, we finally get to see what he likes to tinker with: toy trains.