Just Another Saturday

Just another Saturday around our house.  

Anna's best friend, Rebecca, came over to play for a couple of hours.  

The girls had a tea party and a sword fight, 

then made a secret Valentine's Day craft, 

and watched "Alice in Wonderland".   

In the afternoon, we ran errands, which included getting a new pair of shoes 

for Anna's ever growing feet, and new shirts to cover her ever growing arms.  

In the evening, after dinner, Anna had a shoe-tying lesson from Dad.  

The day culminated with the construction of a grand fort 

by the whole family, which intrigued the cats.

Now it is Sunday morning, and more snow is falling.  

Hmm...what will we do today?

Snow Day

What does a snow day look like?  Snowy.

But what is the definition of a snow day?  See below.

Well, it begins with cinnamon rolls...

...eaten with dinosaur chopsticks.

Proceed to watching television...

...then a lunch of chicken noodle soup, chocolate milk (crazy straw optional), and Fritos.

Then, several puzzles later...

...baking some banana bread.

Now, to bundle up and hit the powder.  

Maybe clean off the car, while we're at it.

And, THAT's how you do it!

Keeping the Dream Alive

So, yesterday was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  

A couple of years ago, I picked up a children's book on MLK and saved it back for someday when Anna was ready.  Discussing the civil rights movement with a 4-year-old is not something to enter into lightly.  But, I decided to throw caution to the wind, so we picked up the book, "Martin's Big Words" at bedtime.  It's wonderfully written, focusing on the simple but beautiful concepts of equality, respect, peace and love (and using your words - how perfect).  What I didn't expect was the fabulous segue into the next book on the evening reading list (I wish I could take credit for having planned this):  Fancy Nancy.  Nancy's best friend, Bree, is black.  We talked about the challenges their friendship would have faced back in 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond, and that at points in time they wouldn't have even attended the same school.  They couldn't sit together at the movies.  What a foreign concept, let me tell you!  Mind you, I have realistic expectations - she cannot truly comprehend this kind of world - I know I can't (and I recognize we still have much more work ahead).  But it's also a great conversation starter on what a blessing it is to be surrounded by people different than ourselves - how it makes our life richer, and how we should respect people who look, think and believe differently than us.

I have a dream...that my daughter will grow up to be an amazing adult who accepts people for who they are and understands the world is so much more than what she finds in her own backyard.

Where did the time go?

I've thought about jumping on here for a quickie post more times that I care to mention.  In the interest of time, I'm going to give the CliffsNotes version of our holidays.  We spent oodles of time with family and friends having a wonderful, glorious time.  We broke ground on our house.  We look forward to 2011, especially moving into our new house and Kindergarten, and spending oodles more fun and glorious time with family and friends.  Here are some highlights:

Ground Breaking

It begins with a big hole.

Thankful

All I want for Christmas is a garage band.

Anna and Summer at the traditional New Year bonfire.

Happy New Year!

 January 1, 2011

Our New Year's Day hike.

Progress, Mr. Blandings!

Stay tuned.