Baby Basket

Neither of my daughters have been too keen on baby dolls. In fact, I recently donated all of our swaddle blankets, after FINALLY giving up hope that they would pick-up the game of pretending to be little mommies. Until tonight I didn't think I would regret that donation. On the way home, Addie asked if she slept in a cradle when she was a baby. I told her that she (and her sister) slept in the very same baby basket that I slept in when I was a baby. The girls were impressed, and when I mentioned that even my cat had kittens in the basket, there was no turning back. Addie asked very nicely if she could keep the basket in her room for awhile. Something tells me there will may be a change in the air with the theme of their pretend play. Sheesh. We don't even own a play baby bottle!

Thankful

This morning the girls were particularly quiet. Entering their rooms long after our normal wake-up time, this is what we found. Happy Thanksgiving!

Wordless Wednesday

Christmas Card FAIL

Just look at that look on little Addie's face!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Hic-Up

I'm sure if she had her way, it would be possible to marry a cartoon character.

I can't say I blame her. Like Mommy, like daughter. Enough said.

Squeegee's favorite spot

She's not the only one who loves having a fireplace in our home.

Fuzzy baby.

Perspective

In my recent post, I wrote about how Aspen Hunting was my mom's favorite activity to do during my childhood. This morning I was talking to my mother about the post. She commented on how it's interesting how different our perspectives can be. Here I was thinking Aspen Hunting was her most favorite thing to do, all the while she says the reason picnics were such a common family activity was because it was cheap. With 3 children (sometimes more), it wasn't cheap to go to the movies or out to a restaurant, but for the price of an avocado, a box of crackers, cheese and meat, we could go out to the woods and enjoy an entire afternoon.

Perspective is an interesting thing. Here my mom was thinking the activity was all that she could manage, all the while we were building special memories.

My mom somehow managed to give us a much happier childhood than she had herself. I hope she is able to see how good life is for my little family and know the significant role she has had in creating it.

Addie Bear and Bussi Bear

When Addie was younger she never had a favorite stuffie like her big sister always had. In fact, until recently Addie would always share her love and rotate among her animals so that they all felt loved. But in the last month, something changed. I think maybe it was a side effect of the girls sharing a room. With them in the same room and all their toys in the other room, the girls share everything. The ONLY thing that has Addie's name on it is Bussi Bear. He has a tag that says "From Paris. To Addie." Whatever the reason, in the last few weeks, Addie has fallen deeply in love with Bussi Bear!

He has always been special, but now he's cherished. It makes my heart sing.

On a side note, Addie Bear has always had a certain sense of style, and her bear hat has been a long-time favorite. You can't help but smile.

Our Mountain*

We live in a very pretty place and sometimes the mountains like to show off. I get a kick out of those moments when I'm in the car with my family and I say "Mount Vincent looks beautiful right now!" or "Our mountain is pretty today!"

Addie, being one who is not afraid of a challenge, almost never fails to correct me with "My mountain!"

Ellie, being one who tends to take things literally, almost never fails to correct both of us with "It's no one's mountain!"

It makes me smile every time.

* My type of red, white and blue - Longs Peak

Destinations

We talked the other day about vacation destinations. I think the topic came up when I mentioned that I once swam with a huge turtle who was really old and wise. I went on to explain that there were also dolphins and sharks. Addie asked me when we will go on a vacation like that again. I was surprised by the level of hesitation I experienced before answering. I'm not sure.

Here's the deal. A vacation like that (which, by the way, was in the Bahamas) requires beaches and hot weather. To be honest, I'm not much of a beach person. The idea of going to an all-inclusive resort and laying around getting a tan does NOT appeal to me. Neither does the water. I hate the way my body feels after it has been in the water. I feel like I am in desperate need of lotion.

Instead of a tropical destination, I would much rather spend my time and money going somewhere in Europe. It doesn't have to be a big city, but it could be.

The point is that I love seeing different architecture and landscapes.

I love castles and love old churches even more.

I love sitting at a cafe and just watching the people stroll by.

I love exploring alleyways and small streets to see what I can find.

I love love love stained glass windows.

I love stumbling upon little nooks and crannies where I can imagine spending my retirement.

I love purposefully trying to time a photo just right as the sun goes down and the sky is a brilliant dark blue.

I love peeping into a fantastically old keyhole, wondering what is hiding inside.

So, no... I doubt I'll ever swim with dolphins and turtles again, or at least not for a very long time, but I'm OK with that. There are other treasures to be found!

On a side note, I know that Gramma's most favorite thing to do is to go Aspen Hunting. No worries, no trees are harmed during an aspen hunting session. Basically it's a fun way to say that she loves to go see the aspen trees when they've turned their brilliant golden colors. There have been many autumns where we've spent the day searching for the perfect aspen leaf. There is no doubt that Aspen Hunting has given me many wonderful memories, but it's not **MY** favorite thing to do. This may come as a surprise because there was definitely a time when I thought it was - much like this is definitely a time when my girls think their favorite things are churches and stained glass windows.

We will spend their childhood creating wonderful memories around Mommy's favorite things, and then there will come a day when they both grow up and discover their own favorite thing to do. And in the words of my Ellie, "the story begins again..."

I'm looking forward to seeing what they fall in love with.

(artwork provided by Ellie... LOVE IT)

A note from Addie

Dragon Girl Confidence

Addie came to me in tears this morning...

MOMMY: What's wrong?
ADDIE: It's PJ day today!
MOMMY: And that makes you cry?
ADDIE: I don't know what to do.
MOMMY: About what?
ADDIE: Well, these are my favorite PJs but I don't want my friends to make fun of me for wearing boy clothes.
MOMMY: Oh. I can see that would be hard to handle.
ADDIE: So I don't know what to do.
MOMMY: Well, the way I see it, you have two choices. You can either change into something else so that you don't have to worry about what your friends say, or you can wear your favorite PJs and remind your friends that it's ok to like dragons if you're a girl.

I later learned that she brought up her concerns with both Daddy and Ellie. Ellie told her that she should just stand up to her friends and say that everyone likes different things and that she likes dragons because they remind her to be brave. Daddy reminded her that there are also girls in the movie How to Train Your Dragon, so there is proof that girls also love dragons.

In the end, Addie decided to keep wearing her favorite pair of PJs. Good for her.

Little Things

Leaves

Our new yard has a corner in it that likes to collect neighborhood trash during windy nights. It turns out that it makes for the perfect leaf collection spot when cleaning the yard... Life is good.