Right now, writing everything she wants to can get really frustrating and tiring, so she writes as much as she's inclined to and I transcribe the rest for her -verbatim, which makes for some funny letters.
She signs her name and writes the addresses on the envelope and off it goes. She is loving this.Ainsley has decided that that looks like a lot of fun, so she joined in today.
Now I need to make her a Letter List. Should I make one with pictures of the person beside the name? I'm thinking yes ....
It was so worth it.
The girls were counting on getting something very specific.
And there it is. Hannah, especially, has not been parted from it very much over the last week.
They were much loved.
Did I say much loved?
Matt played dolls with them for hours.
The day ended with satisfaction - and a show. Of course.
Lots of present making.
I tried my hand at tracing another pattern.
And then gave it up because the cutting board was needed for much more important things.
Grandpa comes tonight - the whole family is excited for tomorrow.
Hannah goes for the feel-better things like marshmallow crackles. (Same ingredient name, different basic ingredients - this is made with marshmallow root.)
Gray makes anything and everything that he can. He just loves helping.
Applesauce making was huge a few weeks ago - the girls insisted that I be Ma and I call them Mary and Laura.
Ainsley is big into pie-making these days. On this day, she asked her father for help, so she got to make a chocolate pudding pie - with extra flair, of course. Sprinkles in both the crust ...
and on top.
It was verra crunchy. Yum.
She can wear it in pigtails now. Happy Day!
She loves how it looks.
We got our tree up last week and this is the first year in nine years that we have a store-bought tree. Usually we get one while we're in Wyoming visiting family - it's a tradition, hunting for the perfect tree in the perfect spot (too many trees in one place) and hauling it back down the mountain. Didn't happen this year, so we went to a local greenhouse and got a tree.
So much glitter to be distributed!
Ornaments to be dug out and put on the tree.
All that we as adults did this year was get the boxes out, untangle lights, and help where asked. The girls did all of the decorating.
Gray just wanted to wear the hat and play.
So our tree is so clearly decorated by kids. All of the ornaments in the same spot, all of the lights in one area ...
It's perfect for this season of our lives.
Happy Holidays!
And then there's Gray. He found his sleeping bag the other day, hauled it up the stairs, and spent the next few hours rolling around in it.
Every time I turned around, there he was, giggling hysterically because he'd been able to bump into my legs.
It kept him busy for a very long time.
Especially when he got stuck under the craft table for ten minutes.
Just look at that smile.
