in The Everyday

2012-02-01T16:00:00.000-06:00

I really enjoyed this article:
The Spiritual Quality of Beauty

The Power of being SIX

2012-01-31T13:28:00.000-06:00

The other day, Adele said to me:

"Mommy, I can do anything in the whole world in my own way."

I should probably start thinking that way too. :)

(No Words)

2012-01-30T13:48:00.002-06:00

Okay, just these words: I love my girlies and sisters are wonderful!

Miss Personality

2012-01-26T09:11:00.000-06:00

I thought I'd share two quotes from Margot. She said both of these things to me as we were coloring together just now.

"Can you make a Boogahduh Bahgahdah?" (yes, I'm sure that's what she said. She repeated it three times clear as a bell. I'll let you know when I figure out what a boogahduh bahgahdah is. :)

and this one:

"Keep going... Be a good girl, okaaaay?"

I'm so happy to spend these days home with her. She won't be little for much longer. As Jesse said, "We're gong to miss Baby Margot when she's gone."

Snow

2012-01-24T09:48:00.001-06:00

...flakes anyway.

This might be the only kind of snowflake we see the rest of this winter and that's ok with me, really. Adele, especially, would disagree. She's itchin' to play in the snow. But I'm happy to just look at these colorful decorations from the cozy inside. (or from the 60 degree outside some days).

Inspiration for these came directly from The Artful Parent this year. Margot especially enjoyed painting on the coffee filters.

Free Haircut!

2012-01-23T10:20:00.000-06:00

... and some quality Mommy/Adele time. Isn't my little baby Adele big?

Wisdom from a big sister

2012-01-19T08:10:00.000-06:00

I overheard Adele giving this explanation to Margot awhile back:
"Now Margot, 'kind of' pretty much means 'a little bit.' "
...Of course! Actually, that's probably better that what I would have come up with to explain "kind of." I spent 5 minutes trying to think of/ define/ explain the word "articulate" once. (in other words, trying to articulate the word "articulate." mm hm.

And last night Adele came into the kitchen and informed me, "Mommy, I just told Margot how she should act." Hmmmm... I wonder what that description involved.

:)

On a slightly unrelated note, I watched Adele going into the big front doors at school the other morning after I dropped her off. There was a big boy (probably a 4th grader) going in right behind her and she tried to open and hold the door for him, but the door was too heavy so he ended up holding the door for her. It was super cute.

I'm off drink my morning coffee.and scheme about ways to make money making art.

Hope the sun is shining where you are.

2011-12-26T20:14:00.000-06:00

Margot-ism

2011-12-16T09:39:00.000-06:00

"I'm keem up! I'm big gul." (I"m cleaning up! I'm a big girl!) She's playing with two cups and some water and washcloths. She's learned where the cloth napkins and rags are and frequently helps herself in order to take care of her own messes.

Also, she has developed a very interesting method for describing her actions in the past tense. Here is an example: "I went fall down!" I love it.

Cold gray outside...

2011-12-13T14:41:00.000-06:00

...but...

...Warm Color inside!

Adele-ism

2011-12-12T13:40:00.001-06:00

Adele: "Conner called me Broccoli today, but I liked it."
Me: "What? ...He called you what?"
Adele: "Broccoli."
Me: "Why? Was he being mean?"
Adele: "No. He just said 'Hi Broccoli' to me when my class passed his class in the hallway."

I think she has her first school crush. ;)

2011-12-11T11:14:00.000-06:00

Halloween

2011-11-04T13:00:00.000-05:00

Mousey little Margot. I was so so happy to re-use this hand-me-down costume that I made for Adele 4 years ago.

Cow girl Adele

After trick-or-treating and before extreme bedtime meltdown. :)

I just couldn't resist coming up with some way to decorate them. We decided to buy some to eat instead of a big one to carve. We'll be cooking them up into something yummy and roasting their seeds this weekend.

Halloween was a pretty big day. I did the party for Adele's class at school. I probably put a bit more work into it than I should have, but it was really fun and the kids had a good time and the teacher liked it... so I think it was worth it. (also, we have some fun seasonal activities to pack away in our Fall box for next year.) After school, I took the girls trick or treating around The Square then we came back for a pizza break, then went out around our neighborhood a bit after dark. It was a beautiful night and it was so good just to be outside.

There are so many things about Fall that I really really enjoy. Mostly, it's just really good BEING weather.

The Birthday Girl

2011-11-04T12:50:00.000-05:00


Vintage Strawberry Shortcake Cake!

Tryin' out the new bike from Daddy. Showin off the new clothes, boots, and coat. She should be holding her new fishing pole from Grandpa, too. There was a fishing trip and fish were caught, but we have no photo documentation of that.

Presents! She thought this Madeline doll from Grandma was really fun, especially all the outfits!

This was when she was pouting because it wasn't quite time for presents yet.


Check out that new missing tooth!

We had a great little celebration. I was actually glad we didn't have a big party. The festivities here turned out to be just enough for a school night. She did get to take special treats to her class. Going to bed that night she told me it was the best birthday ever. She's so wonderful and sweet. (and BIG!)

Camping!

2011-11-04T12:32:00.000-05:00

Whew! October sure did fly by. We had a fun and busy month. Of course, we were so happy to have Grandpa staying with us for the second half of the month. It was fun to share some great Fall times with him. And now I will share some of the highlights with you.

A couple weekends ago, we went camping. It was Margot's first time. So fun! So cute! Sooo helpful to have Grandpa (and all his camping gear and expertise) with us.

Margot walked around holding this cup of [cold]water for about 20 minutes when she first got up. She looked just like a big person trying to warm her hands with a hot beverage.

Jammies, fleece jackets, warm hats, hot coco and coffee cake! Yes, please!

Our spot was right by the river. Adele insisted that the water wouldn't have been too cold if she had her swimming suit, but in the end she had to settle for throwing rocks and hunting/catching frogs.

This one's for you, Arwen.

Friendly little guy.

Margot half awake on the drive home.

I love camping with kids!

2011-09-27T21:38:00.000-05:00

September (!) Update

2011-09-05T22:33:00.000-05:00

I'm quickly falling in love with this little house. Letting myself settle in, even though there's a lot of work I should/could/would still do. I'm trying to just focus on enjoying myself.

Margot, sporting her first pony tail and some new shoes, ready to go pick up big sis from school.

Can't resist checking out a new playground we spotted, despite the 100degree temperature.

This was an especially awesome snack time. You should hear Margot say guacamole.

(It makes her quite happy... eating it and saying it)

So who remembers My Child dolls? This is Margot checking out mine from when I was little. It was my hope and dream to have a real baby that looked just like my doll some day... Impressive, eh? Not sure how I pulled that one off. :)

During the three hours a day Adele is not at kindergarten, I keep her busy with a strict routine of housework. ...not... We are reworking chores into the schedule, but for now she pretty much just does whatever helps her process after school and before bedtime, which is usually swinging in the hammock, coloring/drawing, playing with ponies and barbies or... sucking her thumb. Such a lil sweetie. The mopping project was mostly just for fun. It got out of control pretty fast. Maybe we could have done a bit better if Margot had not been running/slipping around.

This Precious Moments Mecca is pretty much just "down a few the roads a ways" from us. I took the girls over to check it out briefly this weekend. It's free. It's a really fun park (nice fountains, gardens, walkways), with all the Precious Moments art you could want to see... When we walked into the chapel, the girls just stared and Margot even said, "Woww!"

All dolled up to go ride the rides at Kiwanis Kiddie Land down the street. ... A wonderful Sunday afternoon activity.

...

How's that for an update?

And I just have to say that I am overjoyed at the break we're getting from the heat. This cool weather feels amazing. I love this part of the year.

A peek of family vacation

2011-07-21T22:35:00.000-05:00

2011-07-11T12:07:00.000-05:00

Happy Weekend!

2011-07-02T11:46:00.000-05:00

:(

2011-06-26T14:19:00.000-05:00

My camera seems to be broken. *sigh* I might actually have to (get to) buy a camera. I have been pretty lucky up until now. I've never actually bought a camera. My last two were found and given to me. By "found" I mean lost by someone else...
While it would be very thrilling to pick out and purchase the camera I want, it is not in the $cards$ right now. Until then, perhaps I will actually have to start writing on my blog again instead of just occasionally posting photo updates.
Otherwise, if anybody has an old functioning camera sitting around, I would accept donations to the photo update cause! :)

Home Sweet Illinois: Memorial Day Weekend

2011-06-26T14:12:00.000-05:00

Happy [fill in the blank]

2011-05-07T13:03:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday Anniversary to Jesse last week.

Happy "Remember Your Wedding Day" to me and Jesse, also last week.

Happy MAY to everyone!

Happy Mother's Day (to me and all you other mothers-- especially those of you who get to be Moms for the first time on Mom's day this year!)

Annnnd HAPPY FINALS WEEK IS OVER WEEKEND to us in this household. (Yes, Jesse was in charge of the studying and test-taking, but I take credit for everything else. :) We survived. And congrats to everyone else who survived another semester of school.

Here we are on our "mini vacation" last weekend with Gram and Pop.

2011-04-24T22:10:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday

2011-04-06T12:33:00.000-05:00

Our sweet Margot is one today!

Celebration shots

2011-04-06T00:30:00.000-05:00

Once she got the hang of it, she got really into it!

She was really good at this!

After each little bit she tore off, she'd *gasp*

The happy one year old!

Showin off new shoes

Cake!

Love this kid!

2011-04-02T23:05:00.000-05:00

Happy Spring! (a few views of our March so far)

2011-03-23T22:20:00.000-05:00

this gal is very happy to wear spring clothes and a little too eager to wear summer ones!

wasn't it nice of them to paint the house across the street adele's favorite colors?

this little one is intense, i tell ya

(my favorite photo of the season so far)

Losing teeth and walking!!

2011-02-11T20:02:00.000-06:00

It is pretty.

2011-02-01T16:30:00.000-06:00

Snow is a mind

falling, a continuous breath

of climbs, loops, spirals,

dips into the earth

like white fireflies

wanting to land, finding

a wind between houses,

diving like moths

into their own light

so that one wonders

if snow is a wing's

long memory across winter.

from "Revival" Steve Crow

(via Poems for Little Ones :)

These photographs are by Wilson (Snowflake) Bentley. You should google him if you need help appreciating the beauty of the snow.

I appreciate it right now... all 9+ inches! (and still coming down strong!)

Hope everyone's warm and safe this evening.

Here we go...!

2011-01-29T16:24:00.000-06:00

Here's our little red-headed wonder. Last Saturday was her first day of "real steps." This video was from Tuesday, I believe. Today she's doing a few good steps at a time (trying her very hardest to run, actually). I'm sure you can imagine how fast she's figuring it all out.

Camp Song

2011-01-29T09:43:00.000-06:00

Who knew when I was learning all those camp songs that they would come in so handy in my mothering?
(that was a horrible sentence, but isn't this video cute?)

2011-01-27T23:12:00.000-06:00

I dare you to watch this and not smile. :)

Happy New Year

2011-01-01T11:08:00.000-06:00

Ahhh...

End of a wonderfully comfortable and homey Christmas Vacation with Family

... Beginning of a New Calendar Year.

Good things behind me and good things ahead.

I feel full (of more than just Papa's awesome pancakes) and grateful and optimistic this morning.

Here's to Fresh Starts and one day closer to SPRING :)

2010-12-02T22:31:00.000-06:00

Life's pretty exciting around here!

I love you all and miss those of you who I'm apart from.

Make sure you take lots of Being Time during this busy season.

It feels really good to just let go of things that don't really matter.

Settle in and enjoy the moments that do matter.

Like these:

Thankful Thankful Thankful

2010-11-24T15:33:00.000-06:00

Yum

2010-11-24T15:27:00.000-06:00

These are delicious.
I plan to feast on them the next few days when I'm not eating turkey and stuffing.

"Mom's Cranberry Buttermilk Scones"

... I got this recipe from my mom, I'm not sure where she originally got it.

3 C all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt (I always skip the salt)
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup cold butter or marg. (I do half and half)
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup dried cranberries (I used about 1.5 cups fresh, cut up and sprinkled with sugar and flour)
1 tsp grated orange peel (I use probably a tablespoon or more, fresh. I like to be generous here)
1 Tbsp milk
cinnamon and sugar

in a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda; cut in butter. stir in the buttermilk just until combined. fold in the cranberries and orange peel. turn onto a floured surface. divide dough in half, shape each portion into a ball and pat into a 6 inch circle. cut each circle in to six (i do eight) wedges, place on a lightly greased baking sheet. brush with milk, sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. bake at 400* for 15-20 min- until golden brown.

2010-11-13T00:51:00.000-06:00


She'll figure it out... soon enough!

"Pause"

2010-11-11T22:21:00.002-06:00

Sometimes I just wish I could stop time...

Afternoon break

2010-11-10T15:33:00.000-06:00

I think it's awful that "Play Video Continuously" is an option on the menu of some kids DVD's. I mean... maybe if the entire program is only 20 minutes long... but really, how many times in a row do you need to let your kid space out to an hour-long Barney show?

On the other hand, I would really welcome a two or three hour break most afternoons.

Is this old news?

2010-11-04T16:06:00.000-05:00

This occurred to me the other day:
Why not save a bag of Halloween candy for decorating gingerbread houses?!? I never have a big variety of candy around come The Season (of gingerbread houses) and it's silly to go out and buy a bunch of candy just to decorate a house. This solves the problem! Adele loved the idea. She helped me pick out the most beautiful candies and we packed them up and put them away... and might even remember to get them out in December. (Promise, I'm not planning to just throw them away!)

Click here for some fabulous GH inspiration.

I think we'll make some out of graham crackers this year.

Margot likes the leaves.

2010-11-04T11:55:00.001-05:00

They're pretty, but she especially prefers them in her mouth!

October was busy!

2010-11-04T11:54:00.002-05:00

The Hunt.


Fount it!

...gotta have one of these pictures!

Princess Jack-o-lantern. Adele's design. I carved it based on her drawing. We only lit it once and I forgot to take a picture. It was moldy the day after we carved it and totally rotten by Halloween! Yup. Fun while it lasted, I guess.


What a haul! Here is one happy five-year-old. Thanks everyone!


Indian Girl. (very specifically not Pocahontas... she had to correct a few people). The pigtails were braids the first time we went out, but she wouldn't sit still for them a second time.

Indian Girl hard at play. (note Grandpa hard at rest in the hammock!)

2010-10-04T22:26:00.001-05:00

...As you can imagine, Daddy is ~~completely to blame for~~ absolutely thrilled about these new skills... :)

We love our Margot! She's so much fun.

does Summer really have to be over?

2010-09-23T11:53:00.000-05:00

Perhaps my favorite shot of the season. Adele and Cousin Andrew. (he wants to marry her in case you were wondering)

Here's the whole crew! All FIVE cousins!

We finally went to explore Penguin Park. Twas worth the drive. Margot hearts her dad, but is not so sure about the merry-go-round!

New Shoes!

New Teeth!

New Polar Bear at the zoo! (We've already visited him three times since he got here in Aug)

Unlimited carousal rides... tough competition with the animals at the zoo :)

And this... for good measure. I can always hope, can't I?

"I feel so free!"

2010-08-25T23:54:00.000-05:00

...the joy of bare feet on summer grass in the evening... under a very big sky.

freeing indeed.

A nice break

2010-08-11T23:06:00.000-05:00

This is a lot of photos, but you know it's what I like to do. I've been trying to get this post up all week. I think I need another vacation, just so I can spend some time thinking about my vacation! Ah, yes... but I know that's not how it works.

Two weeks ago, we spent a wonderful week with family at Blue Jay Farm near Dixon, MO. It was everything that a week in the middle of "nowhere/Missouri" should have been. There was no internet for me and no phone service.

Here are some things there were:

A screened in porch overlooking the lake.

Lots of spiders and their annoying/beautiful webs.

Cabins.

There was The Lake and a fat little water baby.

There was The Canoe.

There was Adele in her swimming suit almost nonstop all week.

There were lots of fun hairdoo's by loving Grandmas and Aunts. ... We're talking french braids and everything! It was quite a step up from my "pigtail buns"!

There was a birthday party! (it was mine!)

There was a wonderful storm and lovely rolling thunder during the birthday party. I enjoyed it all from the porch overlooking the lake. It was a perfect way to welcome "30"

(more on that in another post)!

There were Pretty Things to enjoy.

There was one of these cool frog things. Dunno what they're called, but I've always loved them! :)

There was the fabulous Kitchen Cabin... actually what the screened porch was part of. We had access to this cabin for "gathering" purposes. It was great to have the extra space outside of the cabin we actually stayed in.

And of course, there was my wonderful family around me. I actually didn't have my camera on me that much. I tried to just enjoy the "action" instead of feeling like I had to capture all of it. Although I do recall taking some fun photos with Mom and Dad's camera...

Anyway, here's to another great Family Camping Trip! I think we'll be back to BJ Farm again. I highly recommend checking it out if you're looking for a nice quiet get away.

"Goodnight after the Storm"

2010-07-23T22:50:00.002-05:00

*or*
"I'll Leave the Light on for You"

Really now...

2010-07-23T22:46:00.000-05:00

... she's too young to know how to scream like this... Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't recall Adele ever making sounds like this when she was 4 months old... or ever at all maybe?

I think we're in for it with this one. Good thing she's so cute. :)

She's Brilliant, too :)

2010-07-12T23:57:00.000-05:00

... and really really cute.

She's Brilliant

2010-07-10T14:55:00.000-05:00

This speaks for itself

2010-07-05T00:03:00.000-05:00

I realized I could stand to put up a sweeter picture of Margot than those last two. ;)
Feast your eyes on this:

Oh yeah...

2010-07-04T15:47:00.000-05:00

I'm famous!
Someone likes my crafts:

Christine, by hand.

Thanks Christine!

My Beauties

2010-07-04T14:16:00.002-05:00

I love these lazy Saturday park outings. They are lazy for me because Daddy's with us. Park outings without Daddy are not lazy for me.

...No, we didn't feed her a crawdad. :)

(We considered using her sausage toes as bait)

I don't think she would have minded.

We even brought two "Doo-dads" home to keep as pets for a few days.

Photo Update

2010-06-28T22:35:00.001-05:00

...mostly for "the folks at home." I realized it's been while since I put up pics.

Here is the result of me realizing I didn't have any pictures of just me and my girls:

... not bad considering the camera was sitting on the drum stool in the middle of a pile of clothes and toys and probably dirty diapers in the middle of the living room!

These were some of our delicious finds at the Farmers Market awhile back. The gooseberries were really fun and tasty in fruit salad. The cherries were *free* because Adele is so cute, I think. All the fresh produce is so wonderful!

This child is quite fat and happy these days:

... oh, those fingers and toes!

Adele continues to amaze me with her imagination. She dwells in a different world than us about 50% of the day.

Here she is tending her marigold garden Grandma helped her plant on Easter (the day before Margot was born!)

And here's where the mushrooms and pixies live

The sisters continue to entertain each other greatly

And same goes for Daddy. He is highly entertained/entertaining!

(The "Happy Father's Day" shot :)

These made me smile... thought I'd share...

2010-06-18T00:47:00.000-05:00

Already seems like a [different] lifetime [ago]

She looks like him

2010-06-05T00:51:00.000-05:00

Don'cha think?
:)

They're getting big so fast!

2010-05-23T07:30:00.000-05:00

Rainy Day

2010-05-21T10:00:00.001-05:00

So, I was talking with some friends last night about how a rainy day is not a good excuse for not doing laundry... especially when it rains day after day after day like it has been doing here. :) However, this post is to show that good things can result from laundry avoidance. This post is also to show that I'm the coolest Mom ever... Ok, not really, but Adele really loved this.

Kids. Love. Water. "When all else fails, let them play with water." That should be written somewhere in some parenting manual. Sometimes, I let Adele take play baths when she's bored.-- that is, baths strictly for playing. no washing involved. Swimming suit and beach ball are required! I also let her "help" with the dishes sometimes. This usually means she ~~plays with~~ rinses the clean dishes in the other side of the sink while I wash.

Here is a picture from last year to illustrate that everything is more fun with your bathing suit on! This is what she strutted into the kitchen wearing after I asked if she wanted to help with the dishes.

Anyway, we also like to do water play at the table. ((I see other people do this too)

Recently we came up with a variation on plain ol' water play: Water play + food coloring!

Kids. Love. Food coloring! But be careful. Those little bottles are oh so fun to squeeze! Here is what we did the other day. It was a fun activity with a little bit of art lesson involved. You should try it (kids or not). It's very therapeutic.

Granola Love

2010-05-20T14:11:00.000-05:00

We love us some granola in this house. I make it almost weekly. I have a kind of "base" recipe that I create variations of. It can be found here at the Hillbilly Housewife (a great source for "budget cooking"). This past week I made a variation of this marvelous recipe that my good friend Megan recommended. It was great and a lot more wholesome tasting that my normal variety which uses butter and brown sugar as the base.

In addition to having granola on hand for breakfast and snacks, I've decided to start making my own granola bars more regularly. I love it that Arwen had the same snacking inspiration this week. Check out her experiment at DirtChic. Since my hands are often busy with Baby, I'm finding it very useful to keep things on hand in the kitchen that are easy for Kiddo to help herself to. After I caught her snacking on cherry pie filling, I decided I needed to stock some more healthy treats.

The photo above is of my first attempt. I looked around for recipes on allrecipes.com (a favorite source for all my cooking and baking whims:) This is the first one I picked, Chewy Granola Bars, and it is a keeper. Of course, I made some adjustments, but not too many. I've never made granola bars with flour in them. It helped them stay together really well, I think, and it also gave them more of a cookie feel and taste. --Not a bad thing.

Next, I'm going to try these Easy Granola Bars. They use sweetened condensed milk. I have access to free evaporated milk which I've learned is also sometimes called "unsweetened condensed milk." So, I'm going to attempt to sweeten my own condensed milk, maybe even with yummy goodness like maple syrup or honey instead of sugar.

Alright. So there is the complete story of Granola in my life right now. Please feel free to share your granola stories in the comments section of this blog. :) And feel free to ask me about any of these recipes, because like I said, I've altered pretty much all of them.

Three cheers for homemade Granola!

A hairdo

2010-05-17T11:57:00.000-05:00

I put a little flower clip in Margot's hair the other day after her bath. She has a little sort of curl on the top of her head that likes to stick up anyway, so I thought I'd try a clip. I think Adele loved it more than anyone! I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to do that with Adele's hair at that age even if I had wanted to! (and I didn't want to. That was back in the day when I believed I had control over the "girlyness" of my girl.. ha)

Lunchtime Bliss

2010-05-04T13:32:00.000-05:00

I just wanted everyone to know that Margot and I are enjoying a quiet, sunny afternoon together... bonding while Adele's at preschool... Here is what that means.
She is sleeping happily (and quietly :) wrapped in my "blankie" (the only smallish blanket I could find that wasn't somewhere in the laundering process) and resting in the swing. I think the fact that this particular piece of fabric has been cuddled by me /absorbing my scent for over 29 years has a rather soothing affect on her. Hm. Good idea, me! ...way to not keep up with the laundry!

And here is what lunchtime bliss I am enjoying, my current favorite quick lunch:

Toss a bunch of spinach in the skillet (like 2 cups) add a bit of water, cover and steam for a quick minute. Drain out the extra water, transfer the wilted spinach onto a tortilla (in this case, whole wheat) sprinkled with cheese (in this case shredded sharp cheddar). Put the whole thing back into the skillet and heat it until the tortilla's just a bit brown and the cheese is melted. Fold it up and enjoy!

Yes, you're right, I should be napping instead of taking pictures of my spinach wrap...

2010-04-24T16:12:00.000-05:00

So, I looked back through my last few posts and realized a couple of very distinct themes that run through them. Hence, I just went ahead and changed the name of my blog for now. Daughters and Flowers are my Everyday right now. That's about all I have the energy to care about. Are the girls both fed and happy and are the flowers still blooming?
...And when can I take my next nap?...
Pictures are about the easiest (only?) way I can express myself and the best way I can keep folks updated. Not that most of you who look at this seem to mind lots of pictures. :) Maybe some day I'll get back to having a bit more variety in my blog content. ...as if my posts were ever that diverse! For now, enjoy the pics.

Love, Carra

How to take a deep breath:

2010-04-23T15:40:00.000-05:00

2010-04-18T20:43:00.000-05:00

Do these guys look like trouble or what? :)

(They're pretty good buddies already).

2010-04-15T17:51:00.000-05:00

Big Sister

2010-04-09T23:21:00.002-05:00

We're home! The sisters got to meet for the first time finally. We are all doing amazing. I feel great. It was a wonderful day.

It was wonderful in so many ways. It felt like this day would never come.

Margot Mau-Bridges

2010-04-07T13:14:00.000-05:00

April 5, 2010 * 7lb 14oz *

All is well.

However, we are not all home yet. Margot is at the local Children's hospital and has not met her big sister yet. (yes, it's killing us). Without going into detail, she is fine and will hopefully be home by Friday at the latest. In the meantime, we are back and forth. (yes, it's hard). I'm just popping in at home for the first time today. Jesse's in the middle of a test week at school. (prayers appreciated). Baby and I are working hard at breastfeeding and Adele and Grandma are being awesome helpers and troopers.

And we're extremely happy and grateful for our beautiful Babe. She's a doll.

And yes, her hair is the color of a brand new penny.

ps. Labor and Delivery was perfect and amazing and I am doing great, Praise God.

pss. No, there is no middle name. :)

2010-04-04T23:56:00.000-05:00

Oh, the anticipation...

This really is an amazing time. ...Waiting for amazing things to happen. It's really such a good exercise in "letting go." I am tired and my body is worn out and everyone's anxious to meet Baby (Jesse asked me tonight if I was "avoiding having the baby or what", ha ha... he was kidding...). But I'm really savoring this time. These are the last few days of a distinct season in my life. I'm inspired by the change that's happening outside around me. As the Spring transforms and erases the last few signs of Winter, I wait for this new little life to come out of me and I can only imagine all the ways it will transform our world.

...and it's all so wonderfully beyond my control!

All is ready.

2010-03-26T23:29:00.000-05:00

The Mama/Birth necklace is complete!
I'm officially ready.
Thank you, Melodie and everyone else who contributed!
It -and all it's unmatchy funkyness- and the good energy/wishes that came with each bead- makes me feel extremely empowered when I wear it!

Baby, Come out! Posterior or not, we want to meet you!

March Photo Update

2010-03-19T09:48:00.000-05:00

The first few shots are from yesterday: The Most Beautiful Day Ever. Adele and I thought we should put nice Spring clothes on and take photos of each other. :) Forgive the goofy grin in my portrait. It's hard to smile nice when you're worried about your 4-yr-old falling over backwards and breaking your camera. The last few shots are my favorites from our wonderful visit with some of my family last month. My parents and siblings and nephews came and stayed in a hotel for a few days. Indoor pool in February + cousins = Best.Idea.Ever! We all had a blast!

A decision has been made.

2010-02-25T00:06:00.000-06:00

The baby must be born before Easter and the baby must be a girl.

...because, you see, I found these matching outfits...

Now, if I could just get Jesse to talk to me about names...

Weekend Status:

2010-02-21T14:46:00.115-06:00

Stir Crazy! February is certainly doing it's thing. FLYing by and also taking FORever. We had a couple of very nice days this week, one of which involved a long visit to the park- lots of sun and blue skies and fluffy clouds. It was wonderful. I found some encouraging pictures from last February, which was amazingly warm and not wintery. Adele and I found the first crocus in the back yard around this time last year.

But for now, we are somewhat snowed in. Ok, not really. But it's been doing some nasty business outside. Enough to keep us from making the trek to church this morning. A nice layer of ice followed by snow. It could be a lot worse, but it's certainly not anything I feel like dealing with. So for now we're just keeping cozy inside. And lucky for us we have a house guest. Meet Howie:

Brought to you by Daddy primarily for Del's entertainment.

We're watching him for a friend of Jesse's from school.

There's been lots of extra giggling around here the last few days. But, no. I still don't want a dog. :)

Aside from the dog, there's been a lot going on outside to look at. The snow that's been falling the last couple days has been the really beautiful kind. Big and very, very, soggy. Fun to watch. And the weather has made our bird feeder a very popular hang out.

A couple nights ago, just before the sun went down, I counted ten cardinals on or around it. Yay! We also have many sparrows, red finches (I think) two different kinds of woodpeckers, blue jays and (my favorite) junco's. And some pesky black birds, of course, and one frequent visitor who I have yet to identify.

Now, don't get me wrong, male cardinals are extremely exciting to spot when they are dashing around in the snow-covered trees, but I've really been enjoying the (comparably) subtle colorings of the female cardinals.

In other news, I've been making some progress in the baby preparation area. I've been rearranging furniture and going through stuff (yes, that's what I said, Dad) and purging and cleaning. I somehow missed the fact that Jesse's on spring break this week, so I'm now plotting all kinds of ways to put him to work while he's here. While I do feel like I'm getting stuff done, there's also a lot to do, especially considering the fact that... well... I'm quite fat and worn out at this point in the game. My belly just keeps growing (a good thing, I'm told :) but the rest of my body is getting tired of lugging the extra pounds around. Really, all's well, though. Things are on track for Baby's Arrival around the end of March, probably early April. I'm looking forward to a healthy, natural birth at a birth center. This one specifically. And I'm particularly excited to use the ocean view suite, if anyone cares to know! (check it out, it's awesome:) I didn't have a bad experience when Adele was born, but I'm expecting this one to be a lot different. I'm looking forward to it. Perhaps one of these days I'll get around to posting more about this pregnancy.

For now, I'm off to the kitchen to search for a healthy snack and hopefully distract myself from my craving for fresh baked cookies.

It's SUNNY today!

2010-02-17T09:49:00.002-06:00

That's all that matters.
I hope the sun is shining on you wherever you are today.

a tweet for my sweet

2010-02-15T22:20:00.001-06:00

Here's the Valentine I made for my hubby. I actually wanted to make it for him for Christmas, but didn't quite get around to it.

It's from this mega cute book that I picked up about a year ago with some gift card cash. Doodle-Stitching by Aimee Ray

This is the first project I've gotten around to making from it. I don't think I enlarged the pattern enough, so I actually ended up sewing a larger pouch onto which I sewed the first pouch with the stitching as a pocket. Did that make sense? Anyway, it's pretty cute. Of course, I made up my own color scheme as well to make it a bit more husband appropriate... although I'm still not sure if he will actually carry his ipod around in it. :) I don't care, I had fun making it!

I highly recommend the book for anyone looking for some fresh embroidery ideas. It's especially geared toward beginners, but had lots of inspiration for all levels.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-14T14:21:00.002-06:00

Adele has been calling herself Princess Heart all day. Watching her go crazy over making Valentines the last two weeks has been the best Valentine treat I could ask for. She's had so much fun with it, and she's been super intense about it. I wish I could recreate some of the songs she sings while she's working.

I think the above project was our favorite one. We made scratch and sniff paint! It was AWESOME. It was super easy. It really actually worked (they still smell good!) And it kept her busy for a long time. We got the idea here. We will be making more scratch and sniff paint in the future. (1 pkg drink mix- we used koolaid mixed with 2 TBS water).

And now I will leave you with two of my all-time favorite Valentine pictures. First, Adele and Cousin Andrew 2008. Two-year-old love!

And this. You just don't get much sweeter than this. I mean, Princess Heart is sweet and all, but this... :)

...Can't buy me love...

2010-02-12T16:01:00.001-06:00

But I can buy me happiness some days.

Does anyone else get really excited when they see something like this folded up on a hanger on a rack at the thrift store?

I was at the Salvation Army the other day browsing through the linens (and kind of pouting because I had walked away from a big brown area rug to "think about it" and after deciding to go for it and try to find someone to help me load it in my cart, I turned around and another lady was rolling it up and packing it into her card... hmph. If it hadn't been for my belly making tasks like that difficult, I totally would have grabbed it right away. Oh well. It was a deal.) Anyway, back in the linens and blankets, etc. I spied some worn-out, colorful, vintage goodness on a hanger and got really excited. I'm a sucker for things like this. I took it off the hanger to discover that it was huge and it was marked $9.99 and it had a huge whole in the middle of it and was in pretty sad shape everywhere else. BUT it was constructed with many amazing prints, and hand quilted.

Well, I wasn't about to pay 10 bucks for it, but I took it up front and did little more than show it to the cashiers before they offered to sell it for $1.99.

I know it's kind of silly to buy things that are falling apart, but like I said, I'm a sucker. Look:

Money can't really buy happiness, but it came pretty close the other day at the Salvation Army. :) ...Now I just need to come up with something clever to do with it.

Joy and Coming Spring, InDEED.

2010-02-08T11:00:00.000-06:00

I'm starting to realize that it happens every year at this time.
I become obsessed with thoughts of spring. (I'm also noticing that I'm not the only one.)
I'm always especially appreciative of my tattoo this time of year. It works it's magic more than I ever knew it would when I got it. Each glimpse of it is a reminder to me that Spring will indeed return. "Joy and Coming Spring," it says. It's too bad my left shoulder blade is not a place that's often exposed in the middle of February. I would love to have more opportunities to view and share it. (So I blog about it. :)

While I am certainly very thankful for certain elements of my life that this February is helping to encourage (basically hibernating, "nesting," waiting, and being quiet), I am looking forward to Spring in a different way than I ever have before. I am expecting that having a baby in Spring will bring a whole different perspective to the newness and rebirth that happens. I'll have the chance to have a bit more of an active role in it, in a way, as I experience the miracle of bringing another child into the world.

Spring is always a huge thing to look forward to. It's even huger this year. I think of little kids and the joy with which they anticipate things. I love how they have no concept of time, and so they can be excited about an event that is a month away as if it is going to happen tomorrow. I compare that to us adults who think we understand time, and yet I think most of us feel somewhat baffled by it. While two months from now seems like a long way to look ahead to, looking two months behind me feels almost the same as looking at two days ago... or two years ago sometimes! So, while keeping in mind how mysterious the passage of time is, I hope to take the rest of this Season one moment at a time, and enjoy it as I look forward to the next Season and all the new hope and joy it will bring!

Ultimate Gifts

2010-02-06T23:29:00.001-06:00

My mother-in-law was asking me for gift ideas for some of the kiddo's in her life. In her words, I'm more "in" the toddler world than she is. She's probably right. (I confess I spend waaay too much time browsing "mommy blogs"). I actually have a folder in my bookmarks marked "shopping dreams" and it's mostly full of toys and other goodies I would buy for my kid and any others I could come up with the excuse to buy for if I had the funds. (That was a terrible sentence, sorry.)

Anyway, I thought I'd take the time to blog about one place where I would absolutely love to have a shopping spree. It is imaginechildhood.com. You can follow the link at the right to their blog to enjoy some of their features like barn stories, nature walks and storytelling. But don't stop there They have a store! At imaginechildhood.com you will find tons of awesome items to help spark the imaginations of children of all ages.

Just a few of my favorites from the shop:

(pictures from imaginechildhood.com)

I highly encourage you to go there- even just to look. It's inspiring. Just the name gets my mind going!

What we had for lunch

2010-02-04T22:06:00.001-06:00

(this post inspired by some of Mindy's recent postings)

Most importantly, we had an inside picnic. The sun was out and it was in the 40's... we could (should?) have bundled up and gone outside, but really... 40 is not that warm. No matter how bright the sun is shining. So we got out our summer picnic cloth and went to town.

Adele requested a muffin tin lunch. Her inspiration came from a recent viewing of this photo of herself.

(from February 2008):

I was glad to see it was just as big of a hit at age 4 as it was at age 2! Items in her (age 4) muffin tin included black beans, cheese, broccoli, carrots, avocado, tomato, dried apricot, and teddy grahams. Now that I look at it, age 2 wasn't that different. I'm not exactly convinced that I originally got the muffin tin idea from a blog, but I have since come across Muffin Tin Monday with it's gobs and gobs of fun ideas and inspirations relating to muffin tin meals.

My picnic food was not quite as fun, but -to me- just as exciting. It was a taco salad. It was bigger than it looks in the picture. I was going to take more pictures of our food, but my camera battery died and we were hungry gals... Fancy pictures are nice for blogging, but we've got our limits! So my salad was loaded with chopped spinach and romaine, lots of black beans, salsa, tomato, sour cream, shredded cheese, avocado, and crushed tortilla chips. Good salads are my dream food right now. They fulfill my craving to "pig out" by not over filling my pregnant belly. Oh. And they're good for me. There's that. :)

So, that's one of the ways we're trying to stay inspired this wonderful month of February.

Hooray for the inside picnic!

A few photos for your viewing pleasure

2010-01-11T09:31:00.001-06:00

Here are some of my favorite shots from our holiday visit. There was lots and lots of baking: especially with The Grandmas. Note that Adele required a kiddo apron each time.

There was a lot of playing in the snow.

There was snow ice cream. -- A first for the kids! They were skeptical at first,

But I think we won them over in the end!

Adele has gained an interest in taking photos by herself. This is one of my favorites:

And here's one more new experience we gave Adele:

Ice skating! I and my pregnant self "chose" to sit out (actually glad for the excuse!) But Grandma and Daddy gave her a wonderful first time out on the ice. She LOVED it!

Greetings Cold and Wintery 2010

2010-01-06T17:20:00.008-06:00

And Happy New Year Family and Friends!

(I really can't decide if I like this picture or if it's just really really goofy... or both)

A list for you:

*Number of pictures I just sorted through from our trip home: 175 -- more highlights coming soon!

*Number of pounds I gained in December: 7

*Number of handmade gifts we received this Christmas: 10 (Unless you count each package of venison in the freezer as a handmade gift... in that case I'd say about 35! Thanks Grandpa!)

*Number of New Year's Resolutions I made: 0

*but Number of things on my "To do before April" List: 5,000!
(Number of days before March 31: 83)

*Number of degrees between tonight's estimated low temperature (10) and tomorrow's high (11): 1 degree! brr.

*Number of hours I spent in the kitchen today making treats for the birds: 2 That's longer than I spent cooking dinner... they better appreciate it.

*Number of friends and family I wish were snowed in with us right now: ALL of you.

*Number of minutes I just spent trying to organize my thoughts into "Number of..." format: too many!

So, we're back in KC, involuntarily hibernating, I guess. Not that I really have much desire to go out anyway, but almost all the things we would have done this week have been canceled. Even Jesse's school's off tomorrow. I'm not even sure if our school district has had any school at all this week, and it's already been called off for the next two days. Ah well. We got off super easy last year- most of the snow and cold steered clear of us. I guess we were in for it.

All that said, it sure is pretty. So far it's been a very good year for scenic snow. :) Of course it's not quite the same here as it is at Mom and Dad's.

Ok. That did it. My warm bed and it's contents (mostly down comforter and warm cuddly hubby. hopefully the warm, but bed-hogging 4-yr-old is not a content of my bed) are calling to me.

Good night. Hope you're warm and cozy tonight.

Holiday Greetings!

2009-12-27T22:51:00.005-06:00

Advent Calendar

2009-12-10T08:42:00.003-06:00

Here's a shot of the Advent Calendar I made. Inspired by this one. I'm still making the ornaments a few at a time, trying to keep up. Adele really likes it. She thinks it's pretty fun. Sadly, it's the only Christmas decorating I've done.

PS There's nothing more comforting than some Footie PJ's, a lumpy teddy bear and a thumb to suck...

PSS I think 4 yr old girls are the reason this song was written. :)

Crafting Inspiration

2009-12-05T23:21:00.002-06:00

Well... now that it's December 5, I'm almost done with my Advent Tree. (Pictures soon!) It was a big project, but it was good to have something to work on. I haven't been crafting atall really since about June.

At this point, I pretty much have a Christmas gift idea for "everyone" but chances are I won't get around to making many gifts this year-- except for things that Adele and I do together. BUT I've just decided to start working on Christmas 2010... Because I won't be able to pull much off last minute next year, like I usually try to do and mostly because I am so inspired by:

The Ultimate Handmade Holidays Master List 2009
This is a wonderful compilation of tutorials and ideas on the Sew, Mama, Sew! Blog. Check it out if you're looking for some super handmade gift ideas. They're also doing a lot of giveaways right now.

I just really want to make things for everyone and can actually imagine working on Christmas gifts all year long! That actually sounds appealing and enjoyable.

Hope everyone's enjoying December. I keep hearing there's snow headed my way... Bring it on! I've got some boots I've been wanting to wear. ;)

Indeed

2009-12-01T11:12:00.003-06:00

"If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves."
Thomas A. EdisonSpeaking of being astounded, I really really like this drawing Adele made. It's herself, holding Flower, just after they went down a slide.

Introducing...

2009-11-30T10:21:00.004-06:00

Baby [GIRL] Mau-Bridges #2:
Here we have the o-so-obvious "girl shot." Ha ha... Or... perhaps not so obvious, except for the word "GIRL" printed at the top. :) If you know what you're looking for/at it's obvious, but I'll leave that up to your interpretation for the modestly of my second daughter.
Isn't she pretty? ;) I'll spare you the rest of the images... But I just wanted to share the news. I feel excited, but not really that much more than I was before. I'm ready to organize clothes now! Adele had originally said she thought the baby should be a boy "because there can only be one girl in the house." But she has since changed her mind and decided "she's excited about having a baby sister." ...Phew... glad that's all straightened out!

Well, it's a beautiful, sunny day here in KC. I need to move on and get some business taken care of. I'm afraid "business" today might involve a trip to Wal-Mart. I'd rather go to Target, but I'm afraid they won't have one thing that I need... and I can't handle both stores in one day. I can hardly handle one... ANYway... whatever blah blah blah :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T10:59:00.003-06:00

Adele and I got inspired a couple of weeks ago to make this super cute turkey shirt. We followed the instructions from this post which we found through this blog, The Crafty Crow.

There are a lot of super great holiday ideas out there, and I'm soaking it all up! I sometimes get caught up on feeling like I need to come up with/only make my own craft ideas, but there's always time for that later! For now I'm enjoying all the wonderful projects that other people share. In fact, I'm in the midst of constructing our very first Advent Calendar, inspired by this one here. (which I also found via the Crafty Crow).

I need to go make green beans!

Have a Happy, Thankful Day!!!

"Caffeine for the Creative Mind"

2009-11-20T10:15:00.006-06:00

I have this fun book from the library right now called Caffeine for the Creative Mind, by Stefan Mumaw and Wendy Oldfield. It's subtitle is "250 exercises to wake up your brain." The book features six different kinds of creative exercises: design, writing, photography, problem solving, idea kindling and play. This morning I chose to do an exercise where I was basically supposed to "find 20 things that make a circle, and take photos so that the circle takes up the same amount of space and is framed the same way from picture to picture." Here's what I came up with. (I know there aren't 20.)

So there you have it. :) That was fun. Adele thinks I'm crazy, and I still want a cup of coffee...

2009-11-17T09:48:00.002-06:00

Ok. I confess. I'm kind of afraid of winter. It's not just that I'm annoyed by it. I've realized this past week that I'm actually kind of scared of it. Everything's just harder. This morning we were greeted with a dusting of snow on the ground outside. Adele was thrilled. I was not so much. (And I'm sure it wasn't quite the most motivating thing to Jesse who had to trek out to catch the bus to school.)
Anyway, I'm trying my best to have a good attitude about this winter. I know it's going to go by quickly. November's already over halfway over. In less than a month, we'll probably be home for Christmas. ... and all the while The Baby Clock is ticking away. April will come quickly no matter what, I think!

Anyway, I thought I'd spend a few minutes coming up with some positive thoughts about winter. So, here we go,

My good warm thoughts about winter:

scarves
king size down comforter
cooking and baking
twinkly Christmas lights inside (maybe I should do some holiday decorating right now)
fireplaces
crafts!
the feeling of being snowed in --nowhere to go, nothing to to
cooking
...and baking :)
winter music
bird watching
slippers
hot drinks
watching Adele play outside with Daddy (someone has to stay in a make hot coco!)
footie pajamas
good boots

...I'm slowin down too much here. The list is seeming too cliche. Help me out here... What wonderful things am I forgetting about winter?

2009-10-30T23:36:00.006-05:00

continuing on with my lazy posting style...

2009-10-20T23:39:00.005-05:00

First day of preschool!

2009-10-06T11:04:00.002-05:00

This one's for you, Mindy. :) Getting the day off to a good start with a green smoothie!

And here she is allll ready to go... backpack, lunch bag and, of course, Flower.

When did my baby get so big? *sob*
...And why am I not doing something better with my "time off" than blogging about her? Lol.

Ahh, September...

2009-09-28T18:49:00.001-05:00

2009-09-20T22:55:00.001-05:00

This really speaks for itself:

2009-09-15T11:17:00.002-05:00

There was an apple picking adventure. (Thanks again Josh and Mindy!)

And sorry everyone, but I left my camera at home on purpose that day.
Counting and sorting the apples when we got home was just as fun (and a lot less sunburn-y)

((It was just as fun this year as it was two years ago!!))

There were 30 this time around. -A mixture of Red Delicious, Yellow Delicious, and Johnathan.

And...
(drumroll...)
...
...
...
...
I made Mom's Apple Pie and it turned out!!!

It didn't last nearly long enough, but it sure was good while it did last. Adele's excited to learn how to make it so she can teach her kids how to make Grammy's Pie.

Here's to many more years of September apple picking adventures and lots more of Grammy's apple pies!

Report from dance class number 1

2009-09-09T09:56:00.002-05:00

It was great!

We're still here!

2009-09-04T13:15:00.007-05:00

Here are just a few of the things we've been working on:
'Home school'

The letter of the week is "O." We got the idea for the owl from this terrific blog, No Time for Flash Cards. Her alphabet crafts are perfect for Adele's ABC book and her song videos are AWESOME!

Adele's starting dance and gymnastics on Tuesday. She's preeetty excited about that, as I'm sure you can imagine! It's been a long time coming.

Annd the most recent development is that Adele might start one day a week preschool very soon. I'm thinking very hard about this and I'm really feeling back and forth about it for various reasons. But for the most part, I think it could work out to be a really good thing for us. I think she would totally love it and I know I would love half a day totally to myself each week- not to mention that I'm feeling like I really need it... I could do a lot of crafting in 5 hours in a quiet house to myself! On the other hand, it costs money and I feel like I could come up with other ways to get a break for myself if that's all it was about. ... ramble ramble... thoughts are welcome. The classes actually start next week, but she'd probably have to wait until the following week because I'd have to get her a check up at the Dr. and all that fun stuff.

In other school news, Jesse seems to be doing well. Next week is a big test week, so he'll be doing a lot of studying this weekend. He's signed up for an ultimate frisbee intramural team. He's making friends. From all I can tell, he's enjoying it. I think he's still figuring out the pace a bit, but keeping up ok so far. And certainly being fed lots of interesting facts to chew on! (and memorize) .

Well... blog time's up. Hope everyone's enjoying the ?Fall? weather!

"Grandma's Sweet Peas"

2009-08-12T14:06:00.004-05:00

(can you smell that?)

Ahhh... the Farmer's Market. I've been wanting to go on Wednesday morning for a long time, but for whatever reason, I always manage to forget. Well, I guess I went this morning just so this old man could make my day. Adele and I were wandering around, just looking mostly, when this guy said, "Hey do you need some flowers? I've got some really nice flowers over here." At his table were a couple baskets of vegetables and fruit and in the middle, a small bunch of sweet peas with a wonderful little old man sign that said "Grandma's Sweet Peas 50 Cents"

I was sold! He said his wife would be so happy that someone bought her flowers.

Even though I never buy much at the farmer's market, I enjoy it so much. I came home with six quarters less than I went with, 3 huge zucchini, a sweet beautiful bunch of flowers (and the charming jelly jar they came in) and many rekindled memories of Grandma and Grandpa's kitchen on The Farm.

August:

2009-08-12T08:25:00.000-05:00

This is what we've been doing a lot of lately. Here's a picture of Adele with her new trike ($2) at her most-visited splash pad. It is hot and soupy here. And the mosquitoes are out of control.

Day three of medical school class is in session. He left with his bike to catch the bus and will ride his bike back here later (yes, in the heat of the day). He's a trooper. He's week is going good as far as I can tell. Certainly giving him something to keep up with. The schedule and systems will take a while to get on top of, and of course he has to take in all the actual material that he's already learning in the meantime!

Adele and I are working our way into a routine, too. It's pretty different already not having Daddy around 24/7. One morning last week, Adele woke up and said, "Why isn't Daddy here?" When I told her he was at school again she replied, "How many days does Daddy get to go to school?" If only she could understand what it means to be almost 8 years old!

The neighbor girlie hasn't started school yet, so she's over here almost 24/7... or at least at all mealtimes! :) I know I'll miss her when entertaining Adele all day every day is totally up to me. We have big plans for some "school" of our own. She pretty much begs me to "do school" every day.

In the meantime, it's splash pad season for awhile yet.

And it seems like she's not going to get tired of her new bike any time soon. I brought it inside the day we got it because it was too hot to play with it outside and it's now her preferred method of getting around the house. A storm woke her up a couple of nights ago and I heard her cry. When I got up to peek at her, she was sitting on her trike (which was parked right next to her bed, of course) with her blankie and bear. The next morning she told me she was going to ride it into my room but I came in before she could do that.