a place to lay your head

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We're packing up the car this morning and heading to my mom's house for a little birthday visit. Emma hemmed and hawed yesterday afternoon trying to "think of a special project to make for NeeNee". I decided not to give her any direction, to see what she came up with. She finally settled on the idea of a special pillow, which I simplified to a decorated pillowcase. (mostly because it was after 4pm, all children were up from naps, and dinner was far from ready)

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You had to know there would be some horsey theme to her gift--a "rider girl" walking her pony over to the mounting block. I love the way it turned out. A quick and easy project that only required a little ironing of a pillowcase and a sharpie marker.

I have a feeling Emma's gift will out shine the less-than-thrilling, practical one I got for her. Oh well. That's how it should be.

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3 + 2 + 1 =

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six. Emma is six today.
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These are a few of my favorite things:
--when I get mad, you get mad. But if my feelings get hurt, it really upsets you.
--you take your field guides and journal on every walk.
--everything has "horse" potential and all topics eventually wind their way back to horses.
--for your special birthday activity, you chose having lunch with your daddy
--you still suck your thumb and rub your toes against your heel--it's why you won't wear sleepers with feet.
--you know more about what's going on around the farm than I do and I always ask you for the details
--you sit and read a chapter book for an hour, even though you can't read them. You even put in a bookmark in the place you left off and come back to it later. You meticulously read through Charlotte's Web for two weeks. Now you're reading Misty of Chincoteague.
--you are a fool-proof mood-lifter for Elizabeth. You can pull her out of any crying  fit. And you watch out for her--taking paper out of her hands, dragging her away from the bowl of cat food, wiping unmentionables from her nose. It doesn't even gross you out.
--you still get in bed with me every morning and ask to slip in to the warm spot where I have been sleeping.
--you are as tough as nails and as fragile as a baby bird, all on the same day.

happy six years sweet love of mine. you were my first baby love. you changed my world.

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peace at home

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It is a quiet afternoon here at home. Dan's first day back to work after Christmas, Mary and Elizabeth are napping and Emma is sitting beside me working on thank you cards to send out to family. Dan and I worked hard yesterday afternoon to clean up and organize after the tornado of Christmas swept through our home. It included some packing up of older toys, some giving away and some finding homes for the new things that found their way into our house this Christmas.

I went to bed last night feeling content and blessed--a warm home, lovely gifts, and wonderful husband, caring family, and three sweet little girls to wrap my arms around each day. 

Soon, I will do a little gift re-hashing on here--once I recharge the batteries on my camera. We had some real hits this year--and as is always the case, the ones that cost the least, were the most loved.

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The pictures are from our pre-Christmas trip to the BrandyWine River Museum. The museum is known for its collection of 3 generations of Wyeth artwork--some of my favorite artists. At this time of year, the museum puts up a two-story Christmas tree full of ornaments created solely from natural materials collected from the museum gardens. Seriously, I will never look at leaves and twigs and seedpods the same way again. You can see the whole set here and get inspired. I wish I could have photographed every one to show you.

Hope your holiday was full of warmth and contentment.
More soon.

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december 19

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"I can't hold back my tears any longer..."

That would be a quote from my five year old daughter as she lay prostrate on her bed, hugging the neck of her rocking horse that was pushed up alongside her.

"I just know I'm never going to get a real pony."
"Cricket(the pony) is the only thing I love in the whole world!"

Me: But don't you love mommy, and daddy, and mary and elizabeth, too?

"Yessss. I love you all, but Cricket is just the only thing that love. I can't hold back anymore."

I have to admit, my dear Emma feels deeply. It literally broke her heart last week when she had to put a big, doe-eyed stuffed fawn (a companion to this book) back on the shelf at Barnes and Noble.

"It just needs me. I can't bear to put it back on the shelf."

And it broke her heart even more this afternoon when she accidentally found it stashed away under my bed, waiting to be wrapped. But it was sweet. Her heart was broken for me, because...

"...we can't afford to get many presents. And now you won't have many special surprises for me."

(I hope you're reading all these quotes with lots of dramatic inflection and phrasing.)

She's just one big, soft, pulsing heart. She feels deeply and responds to everything deeply. Dan and I always remark that she's a lot like the classic nursery rhyme:

   

There was a little girl,
    Who had a little curl,
    In the middle of her forehead.
    And when she was good, she was very good.
    And when she was bad, she was horrid.

Well, at this point, I can't even remember what I came her to post about. Something about gingerbread houses or how absolutely edible this one is.
After I erected the structure of the gingerbread house today, I gave Emma full reign. I was going to try to make it something Martha-Stewart quality, but in the end decided to just let go and let her make her own fun. It was wonderful to watch.

Happy Wednesday.
Six days until Christmas....
Here's a song for you that we're singing along to today...




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december 17

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Hi Everyone! I've really disappeared from here for awhile now, haven't I? I have to admit, it's been kind of nice to go through our days without my "bloggles" (blogging + goggles) on. I have hardly taken any pictures or thought about whether or not I should be blogging something from our day. I think I needed a little break and now I'm feeling much more fresh and content.

We finally brought in the Christmas tree last night. In our little living space it took a lot of rearranging and removing to find the perfect spot for it. Emma and I were the tree purchasers this year. We got it on whim Saturday night while we were running to the yarn store and out for groceries. Can I just say how hard it is to pick out a Christmas tree with a five year old? She tried her hardest to hold the big old prickly tree steady while I assessed uniformity of shape and gaping holes in each specimen. In the end it was a toss-up and we both just said, "let's go with the first one." I don't think we did too bad in the end.

I sat down last night, after the kids had gone to sleep to string some popcorn and I quickly realized that I desperately need to upgrade to a better pop. My kernels are very seed-y and don't have much fluff to them, making it near impossible to string. Last night it was eat ten, find one that was string-able, eat ten....I might have to throw in some cranberries for good measure. Have you all been letting your kids string berries and popcorn? How do they handle the needle? I'd really like to get the girls involved in this process...

As always, I'm still blogging my heart out every day over at babycenter...and they've asked me to do a weekly "craftyblog round-up". So if you've seen something that must be shared or you're doing something that must be shared, please send me an email, so I can give it due credit. Babycenter is really digging the crafty blog world. And I'd love to share some love over there....And here's a recent post that I think many of you would "get".

I've declared this the week of the cookie. I plan to bake a batch or two each day with the girls to give out as gifts. Although I'm quickly running out of time today since everyone in the house is napping--even the dog by the fire, and the cat in a mountain of pillows on the sofa. Today it will be the classic peanut butter kiss cookies and maybe some russian teacakes if there's time.

Off to get my kitchen set up cooking-show style (makes it easier with my children) and upgrade my popcorn stash. More soon, I hope!!!

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