My Faith and Joy… and Boys!

In my attempts to entertain the girls on these cold wintry days, I’ve had to come up with activities that they enjoy, and that don’t drive me bonkers (there is a limit to how many times I can read a book – any book – about barnyard animals).  Today, I decided to let the girls help me make a casserole for our dinner.  The logistics of involving them in food prep have become vastly easier as their comprehension and obedience levels have increased, as well as their coordination.  We also recently purchased stools for our kitchen island, which puts the girls at counter height and saves me the trouble from having to constantly bend down to the floor let them stir or pour anything.  So with these advances, and their eager willingness, we set about our culinary adventure! 

I had planned to take more interim pictures to document the event, but soon realized that if I was going to prevent the girls from eating half of every ingredient involved, I was going to have to make this process snappy. 

So here is Susie stirring our egg mixture…

…and then helping herself to some cheese while Becky had her turn…

…and then making sure Becky knew when her turn was up. 

The casserole turned out well, despite a little less cheese than the recipe called for, thanks to the girls’ assistance.  And the only added ingredient was a sneeze that Susie added to the egg mixture before I could stop her.  Oh well.  Sorry, Jim! (Thankfully, he will have already eaten his portion by the time he reads this!).  Bon appetit!     

(I had to dig into my picture archive to find a photo for today, hence pre-haircut Susie.  Don’t they just make you smile?)  

One of our recent library discoveries is the author Sandra Boynton.  The girls checked out her book “Barnyard Dance” a few weeks ago and we’ve been reading it almost every day since.  But we’re not simply reading it.  Every time the girls bring me the book, they get into position in the middle of the family room and boogie along with the catchy rhyme scheme.  They get so spirited I nearly want to join in the wiggly fun (but just nearly; I’m rather dance-challenged)!  Here are the girls demonstrating their barnyard dance moves for you:

It must have been yesterday’s public admission of my procrastination that did it.  I finally got my act together and put out some Christmas decorations (not all, by any means, but at least the tree is done).  I was originally going to decorate the tree when the girls were asleep, figuring the combination of toddler fingers and breakable objects wasn’t ideal, but I was dragging this morning and needed to do something to keep me awake and keep the girls entertained.  I was pleasantly surprised at how well the girls did with the decorating process.  They loved choosing a tissue-wrapped bundle out of the ornament box, helping me to carefully unwrap it, and then carrying it over to the tree where they would advise me as to its perfect location (which was invariably toddler eye-level).  I shared with them the beloved memories that accompanied some of the ornaments, but they were more impressed by any decorations with moving parts than they were my moving stories. 

I found it amusing at how the girls’ personalities were expressed during the decorating process.  Susie, true to form, focused on one or two ornaments and intently studied and poked at them, content to stay in her own little world.  Becky, on the other hand, raced back and forth between the box and the tree, excitedly narrating our every move, instructing me on proper placement, and informing Susie of the ornaments she should have been choosing if she were not otherwise occupied. 

Here are the girls admiring one of my childhood ornaments, a toy soldier with a pull-string:

Here they are with their hand-knit (by my talented aunt, not yours truly) stockings:

And here they are enjoying one of the best parts of the holiday, the Christmas books:

You can see that their fascination with the seasonal books lasted all day, pairing nicely with their newfound fascination with their fairy princess dress-up outfits and penchant for bringing their little chairs into the kitchen while I cook and clean: 

So now I guess I better keep up this anti-procrastination streak and actually start stuffing Christmas card envelopes.  Too bad the girls can’t help me with that!   

I don’t know who’s luckier that there’s a thick glass door separating the girls and the cat: the girls because the cat isn’t afraid to use his teeth, or the cat because the girls aren’t afraid of his teeth.