This is the little angel, made out of a coffee pod thingy, that a Swiss bus driver gave to Bea one day. I wonder what the story behind it is? Did he make it with his big hands? Did he find it on the bus? Did one of his grandkids make it? It is precious to me.
MICHIGAN TIME
OH CHRISTMAS TREE, OH CHRISTMAS TREE
Our biggest one yet.
BEA REPORT
Each of the stickers below represent a time when Bea bravely talked at school. She is right in the thick of it - getting help from her psychologist*, her teacher and lots of other helpers at school. We are not out of the woods and there is a lot of work to do to ease her anxiety. But for the moment we are feeling thankful and hopeful for her future.
* I shouldn't feel this way, but just saying out loud that my daughter has a psychologist stabs me in the heart a little. It should be as simple as saying she has a doctor - but somehow it isn't. It reminds me of all her struggles - even if they are not physical struggles it is still so hard to swallow the idea that your child is in pain.
So if you are in the North Shore Chicago area and you can't find any stickers in any shops, it's just because my daughter is doing a fantastic job overcoming some really scary stuff.
FIRST SELFIE
Here I am after doing battle with my TV room walls. I was all motivated after seeing how my sister's recent paint job turned out (beautiful) but it's taking forever and a day to get the walls prepped. Patching and sanding and dust absolutely everywhere. Poor Brian cannot handle the dust - he gets all wheezy - so I really must finish this stage this week.
Wish me luck.
IN A HOLIDAY MOOD
I'm not feeling my photography mojo lately. Not sure why. Maybe it's just this gray time of year setting in. Anyway - I only have a few photos from our long Thanksgiving holiday in Michigan.
Here's Brian doing some cooking:
I love how butternut squash start to ooze and bubble squash juice after you cut them:
Bea has fallen for Mom and Dad's puppy - Skipper. She would slip under the table during a meal and tenderly stroke him. Here's a portrait of Skipper:
Grandma Dice had Thanksgiving with us (and Lana's clan). She made her delicious rolls and also a pan of mini rolls for our girls. I can't think of many things more beautiful than the sight of Grandma's rolls nestled in their cast iron pans.
We, spur of the moment, decided to decorate Mom's Christmas tree. The tree ended up a bit ornament heavy at about three feet off the ground. It was good fun. I love that my Mom is up for having her grandkids spontaneously dig through all her Christmas boxes. It's all precious, but not too precious for her dear little girls to dive into.
I find myself humming "Lord help the mister - who comes between me and my sister..." this week because Jennifer invited us to see White Christmas at the old Temple Theater in Saginaw. It was all kinds of fun and we're all in the holiday mood now.
LAUNDRY
I saw this old sign at an Evanston dry cleaner - it reminds me how easy I have it today laundry wise. Just look at that poor woman's face. I would look like that too if I had to iron my sheets and pillow cases.
I HAD A BIRTHDAY
and I got a very nice penguin cake.
THREE YEAR OLD EXUBERANCE
I wish she would stop growing so fast. I love the wild abandon dancing sessions in her crazy patterned stripey outfit. She's pretty much done napping, but once in a while she'll fall asleep while we rock in the rocking chair. I can't help thinking - is this the last time she will sleep in my arms with her sweet little head on my shoulder?
Yesterday she licked the car. She told me that she thought she had a really big paper cut on her bum and she also cut a hole in her pants. I guess I need to supervise her craftiness a bit more.
Here she is dancing in the sunshine - I love those pigtails:
TURKEY TRIO
I love this craft. It's just two pieces of cardboard painted. I found it on the Made by Joel blog last year and modified the feathers a bit this year.
