All My Loose Ends

Sometimes

I think Emily thinks I'm a raving idiot. Last week, she went to the grocery store with two quarters in her hot little hand. She picked a gumball machine, put in one quarter and got double prizes. She put in another quarter and got another round of double prizes. They're these litlte smilie faces who have arms and legs and you can fold out of their body. She named hers Doris. I named mine Henry.

Today, she was carrying around Doris in a lantern I have sitting around.

"This is my princess. Can you guess her name?"

"Doris.", I answered on my way to the laundry room.

"How did you KNOW that?"

"You TOLD me."

"Oh."

I mean, we've been playing with Doris and Henry since last week. A couple of times a day. Elaborate games. How WOULDN'T I know Doris' name by now?

Because I'm a forgetful old woman that's why. At least that's what Emily must think. Or maybe an idiot. Or perhaps just dumber than she (which is a real possiblity). I had no idea that the ideas of superiority of the child over the parent happend so soon. Emily's just barely six.

With Emily

at times, it's hard to remember that she's just a little girl, with her long body and her huge vocabulary. When I realize how little she still is, it sort of slaps me upside the head a little bit. It's like a bit of a gift.

Today, she was waving around her Disney Princess wand. She made a disgruntled sound.

"What?", I asked

"This wand! It says it will make my wishes come true. I wished this house would turn into a castle and IT'S STILL A HOUSE!".

I love that she still expects something magical to happen. I forget that at times as we go through our day to day stuff. I forget that she really thinks that something amazing or remarkable could happen every single day.

That's the part of childhood I love. The hopefulness. It's the thing I hope my children carry in their life--the hope that something GOOD can happen at an time. I've always been a silver lining girl. I still am, even with the evets of the past two years making it REALLY hard to stay that way, but at the end of the day, we still have a lot of blessings to tally. Eric, Emily and I are healthy and (mostly) happy. We love each other. We have a comfortable house and Eric has a good job that allows me to do whatever it is that I want with my life (sah? Work part time?). I've managed to say hopeful. I hope Emily and our new peanut do too.

I think Emily will be a hopeful person. It's in her. I can ell. Some people might find her constant questions annoying, but it's a part of her hope. The hope that someone will change their mind about giving her a treat at the store or the hope that someone will want to play dolls when they said they didn't. It's one of her best traits.

Spring?

Soon, right?

Bitter cold here this past weekend as I think it was across a good portion of the midwest. Not much snow to speak of. On Saturday the temperature barely made it onto the positive side. We can deal with that, though. We're snug and warm in our little house. And it was sunny, which is always a plus on a cold day.

But, really, I'm ready for spring. Ready to throw open the windows and blow out the dust. Ready for flowers and walks and trips to the park and picnics and cook outs. Mostly, ready for this season of quiet and stillness to pass and the season of rebirth to begin.

It was a bit springy here the past week.

Inside.

I have bottles of Prima flowers here. They're tiny paper flowers used in scrapbooking. I have five or six bottles of them. They hold, oh, at least a hundred flowers a pop. So, last week, Emily must have been feeling Hansel and Gretelish because she spread these tiny paper flowers ALL over the upstrais.

Of course, she's disinclined to pick up the tiny paper flowers, so I'm crawling aroudn on my hands and knees trying to salvage the undamaged ones. So, it's sort of springy. Inside. At least.

Praise Be!

The Divine Miss Em has parted ways with her shocking pink cast. She recovers well. She took a long bath today. She complains of "feeling weird" but I'm sure that will ebb in a few days. For now she lies at repose, watching Dragon Tails and waiting for slumber.

We also did some crafty things today

Be forewarned, one of these may be for you. :o)

You all, I should have my Christmas stuff up by now. Or started. But I can't get there. The spirit isn't moving me yet this year and I hate that. Come on, spirit! I made foam marshmallow people for you!

I am down to my last skein of red of my HP scarf. It's going to ROCK!