after too many Christmas cookies
I’ll catch up with Reverb Broads tomorrow. I’m behind on two posts but today has been exactly what I needed. And instead of staying up to write for hours, I’m going to dive into a cozy evening.
Between the re-arranging, baking, cleaning, laundry, playing inside a cardboard house for hours, and enjoying that Daniel didn’t have to work today – it’s been a perfect day.
Hugs to you all!
Drew fell asleep while watching National Geographic: Volcanos. <3
What is the best and/or worst thing about your life right now? – Dana
The Best: Waking up to two people who love me. Snuggling. Dancing to Christmas music in the kitchen. Then hating the Christmas music and begging for something different. Baking in the morning. Making sweet tea and watering it down so the tiny boy isn’t dancing TOO much. Turning on the dryer so wrinkles in my t-shirt will disappear. Planning the gingerbread house. Friends coming over so I can judge new outfits. Folding blankets over and over because I love to fold them. Not caring if someone rearranges all the ornaments on the tree because “the dinosaurs don’t like it.” Drinking coffee while talking about what marriage means to us. Bath-time for Bonzo and acting surprised when he plants toy “seeds” and GASP, toys grow from the bubbles! Putting on the apron because the kitchen is a disaster and hard work soothes my idle hands. Kissing in the hallway while I search for the 409.
The Worst: Waking up to more bad dreams about chasing murderers through the pews at some church. Too much Christmas music. Knowing that I won’t be drinking sweet tea come New Years when I start the squishy no more project. The piles of laundry that I need to wash. The lack of free-time with my husband because he works All The Time. Feeling like a single parent too often. Imagining what life would really be like if I was a single parent. Crying because single parents are so much stronger than I am. Wishing I could emotionally let people get a bit closer than I do.
I’m taking part in a blogging group called Reverb Broads that will be suggesting daily blogging prompts this December. If you want to join in, feel free! Go here or here to learn more.
We bundled up and trekked through the fresh snow this morning. There isn’t THAT much but it’s enough to feel frolicky. Drew was disappointed that he couldn’t make a giant house out of snow bricks so he took to making patterns and waving at neighbors. And chasing ME. The one with the camera. Eeek.
I wish I could mail some snow to all of you in the south! I’m hoping that it’s not going to be in the 70’s when we are in South Carolina for Christmas. That will just feel so wrong.
What was your favorite children’s book? – Niki
I love to read and have felt this way since I was a little girl. Growing up in a home with books everywhere will do that to you. It’s a way to escape to another world, gain knowledge, and imagine.
Children are made readers on the laps of their parents. – Emilie Buchwald
{The Fairy Tale by Sir Walter Firle – I first saw this painting at my in-law’s home. I’d love to hang this in a home library.}
I can’t remember the picture books I read when I was very small (even though we read constantly). But I do remember my absolute favorite books from my childhood: the Betsy-Tacy series by Maud Hart Lovelace.
The stories are set in the fictional town of Deep Valley, Minnesota in the late 19th and early 20th century. You follow the adventures of Betsy Ray and her family and friends from the time that Betsy turns five until she is in her early twenties. There are ten books in all (and three related novels) and I read these over and over and over and over as a child. At some point I got rid of them (WHY??) but they have continued to be my favorite childhood books.
I remember their selling sand, climbing The Bill Hill, making paper dolls, Little Syria, having picnics, cutting their hair, finally having two numbers in their age, all the school dances, falling in love, the blank notebooks and writing in the trees, dime novels, Uncle Tom’s Cabin at the opera, the gypsies, Betsy’s attempts to be mysterious and alluring, sororities, traveling in Europe, and World War I.
I must say, I’m getting emotional just remembering all of this. Gah! Let me go look on Amazon real quick.
Okay, $80.06 and you can buy all ten novels (plus the other three). I may have to do this soon. I would really love to have them all again.
On the subject of reading, my mom and I still exchange children’s books. In 2004, she gave me Mama, If You Had a Wish. It was poignant because I was struggling with worries about whether her love for me was contingent on certain things.
“Mama,” asked Little Bunny, “if you had a wish, would you wish I never cried?”
“No, Little Bunny,” answered Mama, “but it does make me sad to see you cry.”
“Would you wish I was brave all the time, and never got scared of anything?”
“No, Little Bunny,” said Mama. “We all get scared sometimes.”
“What about when I get mad at you?” asked Little Bunny. “Would you wish I never did that?”
“No, Little Bunny,” said Mama. “I love you when you are mad at me, and I love you when you are not.”
“I bet I know what would you wish,” said Little Bunny. “You would wish I never made any mistakes.”
“No, Little Bunny,” said Mama, “I love you no matter how many mistakes you make.”
“Even big giant mistakes?” “Even big giant mistakes.”
“Well, said Little Bunny, “you probably would wish I looked different, wouldn’t you?”
“No, Little Bunny,” said Mama. “I wouldn’t wish you to look any different than you do.”
Little Bunny was quiet for a moment. “Mama, if you could make one wish about me, what would it be?”
“I would wish for you to be yourself,” said Mama, “because I love you just the way you are.”
The book grabbed my soul. I wept. We both did. And it has forever been a treasure to me. I read it with my own child now and whisper the words when he falls asleep.
I’m taking part in a blogging group called Reverb Broads that will be suggesting daily blogging prompts this December. If you want to join in, feel free! Go here or here to learn more.